EP Wealth Advisors LLC Has $82.23 Million Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC cut its position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,161,258 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 48,708 shares during the period. NextEra Energy comprises about 0.9% of EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $82,229,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 0.7% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,298,642 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,508,155,000 after buying an additional 143,748 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 9.2% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,178,185 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $579,097,000 after purchasing an additional 691,341 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 22.3% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,961,556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $443,834,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268,900 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in NextEra Energy by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,631,121 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $402,774,000 after purchasing an additional 629,032 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 7.2% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,100,348 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $431,966,000 after purchasing an additional 409,708 shares during the period. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America upped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Mizuho downgraded NextEra Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $71.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.07.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NEE opened at $84.54 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.49. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $47.15 and a 52-week high of $85.56. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $79.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.39. The firm has a market cap of $173.69 billion, a PE ratio of 23.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.56.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.03. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.75% and a net margin of 24.45%. The company had revenue of $6.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a $0.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NextEra Energy

In other news, EVP Nicole J. Daggs sold 658 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.97, for a total transaction of $50,646.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,697. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.