Freedom Investment Management Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 6.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 11,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 791 shares during the quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $984,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of NEE. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 8,641.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,861,208 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $326,388,000 after purchasing an additional 3,817,037 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 4,058.2% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,366,795 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $200,065,000 after buying an additional 2,309,876 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 57.0% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 5,957,220 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $421,831,000 after buying an additional 2,163,437 shares in the last quarter. LGT Group Foundation boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 962.8% in the 2nd quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 1,514,482 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $107,240,000 after buying an additional 1,371,982 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Senator Investment Group LP grew its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 5,094.5% in the second quarter. Senator Investment Group LP now owns 1,019,629 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $72,200,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,000 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on NEE shares. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on NextEra Energy from $73.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $87.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of NextEra Energy from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.85.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NEE opened at $78.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.41. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.95 and a fifty-two week high of $86.10. The stock has a market cap of $161.47 billion, a PE ratio of 23.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $80.40 and a 200-day moving average of $77.80.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.05. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.94% and a net margin of 26.49%. The business had revenue of $7.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.41 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.515 dividend. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is 60.95%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Nicole J. Daggs sold 4,007 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.57, for a total transaction of $302,808.99. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,193,401.44. This trade represents a 20.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.