Cypress Capital Group Decreases Stock Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Cypress Capital Group reduced its position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 10.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,686 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,757 shares during the period. Cypress Capital Group’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $2,917,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in NextEra Energy by 1,229.6% in the 4th quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 359 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in NextEra Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Luken Investment Analytics LLC purchased a new position in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its position in NextEra Energy by 2,482.6% in the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares during the period. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.85.

NextEra Energy Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NextEra Energy stock opened at $70.85 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $145.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. 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 has a fifty day moving average of $70.38 and a 200 day moving average of $76.20. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $54.95 and a fifty-two week high of $86.10.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 28.06% and a return on equity of 11.85%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.5665 dividend. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is presently 67.06%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total transaction of $162,258.47. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,867,504.43. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.