NextEra Energy Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:NEE)

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders bought 45,077 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 65% compared to the average daily volume of 27,342 call options.

Insider Activity at NextEra Energy

In related news, EVP Nicole J. Daggs sold 658 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.97, for a total value of $50,646.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,697. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NextEra Energy

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,561,055,000. M&G Plc acquired a new position in NextEra Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $303,065,000. Zimmer Partners LP raised its holdings in NextEra Energy by 8,447.5% in the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 2,735,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $174,807,000 after acquiring an additional 2,703,200 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 400.7% during the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 2,812,198 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $179,728,000 after acquiring an additional 2,250,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 57.0% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 5,957,220 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $421,831,000 after acquiring an additional 2,163,437 shares during the period. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho lowered shares of NextEra Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $71.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. StockNews.com upgraded NextEra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Bank of America lifted their price target on NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on NextEra Energy from $69.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.00.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 0.8 %

NEE opened at $80.04 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $164.44 billion, a PE ratio of 21.81, 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 current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.41. NextEra Energy has a fifty-two week low of $47.15 and a fifty-two week high of $81.07. The business has a 50-day moving average of $75.09 and a 200-day moving average of $69.24.

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

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a $0.515 dividend. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is presently 56.13%.

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.