Middleton & Co. Inc. MA Sells 429 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Middleton & Co. Inc. MA decreased its position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 204,159 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 429 shares during the period. NextEra Energy comprises about 1.6% of Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $14,636,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fiduciary Family Office LLC boosted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.0% in the third quarter. Fiduciary Family Office LLC now owns 13,496 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,141,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Second Line Capital LLC boosted its position in NextEra Energy by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $262,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Drive Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.8% during the third quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,332 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $451,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Accel Wealth Management raised its stake in NextEra Energy by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Accel Wealth Management now owns 8,615 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $618,000 after buying an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, L.M. Kohn & Company raised its holdings in NextEra Energy by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company now owns 15,353 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,101,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NEE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on NextEra Energy from $99.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.85.

Insider Transactions at NextEra Energy

In related news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,867,504.43. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

NextEra Energy stock opened at $70.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.47. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $70.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $144.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.95 and a 1 year high of $86.10.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 28.06%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date is 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%.

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.