Carl P. Sherr & Co. LLC Trims Stock Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Carl P. Sherr & Co. LLC lowered its stake in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 480 shares during the period. Carl P. Sherr & Co. LLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $626,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Scissortail Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $474,000. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,402,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 729,539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,312,000 after buying an additional 69,718 shares during the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 69,504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,222,000 after buying an additional 2,110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 232.6% during the 4th quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 54,219 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,293,000 after buying an additional 37,919 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

NYSE:NEE traded down $1.05 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $61.70. 11,594,124 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,029,350. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $47.15 and a 52-week high of $79.78. The company has a market cap of $126.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $59.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.03. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.73% and a net margin of 26.00%. The company had revenue of $6.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 27th were issued a $0.515 dividend. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 26th. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 57.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on NEE shares. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. StockNews.com lowered NextEra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Barclays initiated coverage on NextEra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $66.00 price target for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $74.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.36.

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.