Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC Has $2.41 Million Stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC lowered its stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 75.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 33,565 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 101,932 shares during the quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $2,406,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Boston Partners bought a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter worth $244,169,000. Amundi raised its holdings in NextEra Energy by 49.8% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 9,543,552 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $676,008,000 after purchasing an additional 3,172,405 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,833,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $634,703,000 after purchasing an additional 1,525,436 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 167.7% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,186,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $184,795,000 after purchasing an additional 1,369,689 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 13,375.2% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 946,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,835,000 after buying an additional 939,209 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NEE opened at $71.17 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $146.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.12, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.29 and a twelve month high of $86.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.47. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $70.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.63.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 28.06% and a return on equity of 11.85%. On average, analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.5665 dividend. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NextEra Energy

In other news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total value of $162,258.47. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,427 shares in the company, valued at $1,867,504.43. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on NEE. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $89.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NextEra Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.92.

NextEra Energy Company Profile

NextEra Energy, Inc, through its subsidiaries, generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electric power to retail and wholesale customers in North America. The company generates electricity through wind, solar, nuclear,natural gas, and other clean energy. It also develops, constructs, and operates long-term contracted assets that consists of clean energy solutions, such as renewable generation facilities, battery storage projects, and electric transmission facilities; sells energy commodities; and owns, develops, constructs, manages and operates electric generation facilities in wholesale energy markets.