Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Has $634,000 Stock Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC lifted its position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,789 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $634,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NEE. Burkett Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 1,229.6% during the fourth quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 359 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in NextEra Energy in the third quarter worth $33,000. Luken Investment Analytics LLC bought a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Stock Down 2.0 %

NextEra Energy stock opened at $68.70 on Wednesday. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.30 and a fifty-two week high of $86.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $141.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.39, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.34.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 28.06% and a return on equity of 11.85%. As a group, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.5665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.06%.

Insider Activity

In other NextEra Energy news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total transaction of $162,258.47. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,867,504.43. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on NEE shares. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $89.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank increased 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. boosted their target price on NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.92.

About NextEra Energy

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.