Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Buys 837 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 2.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 31,455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 837 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $2,659,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. M&G Plc bought a new stake in NextEra Energy in the first quarter worth about $303,065,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 8,641.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,861,208 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $326,388,000 after acquiring an additional 3,817,037 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 8,447.5% during the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 2,735,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $174,807,000 after acquiring an additional 2,703,200 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $200,065,000 after acquiring an additional 2,309,876 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 57.0% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 5,957,220 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $421,831,000 after purchasing an additional 2,163,437 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

NYSE NEE opened at $76.98 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $158.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.78, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.41 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $82.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.11. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.81 and a 1 year high of $86.10.

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

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a $0.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $87.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank increased their price objective on NextEra Energy from $73.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on NextEra Energy from $83.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Dbs Bank cut NextEra Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered NextEra Energy from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.54.

NextEra Energy Company 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.