Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 3,555,116 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Alliancebernstein L.P. reduced its stake in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 27.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,192,663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,555,116 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.45% of NextEra Energy worth $659,022,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 299,215 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,293,000 after buying an additional 5,409 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $477,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 30,417 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,571,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,249,794 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $105,645,000 after purchasing an additional 283,587 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acropolis Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in NextEra Energy in the 3rd quarter worth $108,000. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at NextEra Energy

In related news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total transaction of $162,258.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,867,504.43. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on NEE shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $89.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, NextEra Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.92.

NextEra Energy Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NEE opened at $70.44 on Monday. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $61.31 and a 1-year high of $86.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $70.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $144.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.90, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted 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 return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 28.06%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This is a boost from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is 67.06%.

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.