Confluence Wealth Services Inc. Acquires 1,170 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 12.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,362 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,170 shares during the quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $662,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. GSG Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 6,509 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $407,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Greenfield Savings Bank lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Greenfield Savings Bank now owns 32,220 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,957,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 22.7% during the 4th 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 last quarter. MKT Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.9% during 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. Finally, Meritage Portfolio Management lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 4,701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $269,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NEE traded down $0.44 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $66.99. 10,042,329 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,865,637. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $137.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.51. 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 1-year low of $47.15 and a 1-year high of $78.53.

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

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.515 per share. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 26th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NEE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Barclays initiated coverage on NextEra Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $66.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised NextEra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.50.

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.