Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC Reduces Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $1,655,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NEE. Burkett Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in NextEra Energy by 1,229.6% in the fourth quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 359 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the period. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC acquired a new position in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. 78.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NEE has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $89.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.92.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 5.7 %

Shares of NextEra Energy stock opened at $67.75 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.47. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $61.31 and a one year high of $86.10. The company has a market cap of $139.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.10, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $70.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.10.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its quarterly 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 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This is a boost from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the firm’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,867,504.43. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About NextEra Energy

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.