Bailard Inc. Acquires 1,877 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Bailard Inc. grew its holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 68,822 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,877 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $4,873,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 8.8% in the second quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 30,618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,168,000 after purchasing an additional 2,473 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 5.9% in the second quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 11,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $820,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 560.7% in the second quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,612 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 1,368 shares in the last quarter. New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the second quarter valued at $90,000. Finally, Hills Bank & Trust Co raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 3.6% in the second quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 18,626 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,319,000 after purchasing an additional 653 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on NEE shares. StockNews.com upgraded NextEra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Scotiabank increased their price objective on NextEra Energy from $73.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on NextEra Energy from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on NextEra Energy from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Nicole J. Daggs sold 658 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.97, for a total value of $50,646.26. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 100 shares in the company, valued at $7,697. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NEE opened at $80.64 on Tuesday. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $47.15 and a twelve month high of $81.07. The firm has a market cap of $165.68 billion, a PE ratio of 21.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.49. The business has a fifty day moving average of $74.72 and a 200-day moving average of $69.01.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.29 billion. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.75% and a net margin of 24.45%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th will be given a $0.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.55%. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is 56.13%.

NextEra Energy 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.