Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. Trims Stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. reduced its stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 10.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 18,063 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,082 shares during the period. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $1,097,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Greenfield Savings Bank increased its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Greenfield Savings Bank now owns 32,220 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,957,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC raised its position in NextEra Energy by 22.7% during the fourth quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 930 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. MKT Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. MKT Advisors LLC now owns 6,233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $387,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 4,701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $269,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Finally, First Pacific Financial increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 8,885 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $540,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NEE traded up $1.29 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $70.14. 12,687,503 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,442,457. The company has a market capitalization of $144.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.11, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $47.15 and a 52 week high of $78.53. The company’s 50 day moving average is $62.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.66.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.11. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The company had revenue of $5.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.84 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 27th were paid a $0.515 dividend. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 26th. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is 56.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NEE. Guggenheim raised their price target on NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of NextEra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, NextEra Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.50.

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.