Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Buys 13,613 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 16.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 94,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,613 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $6,672,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NEE. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 64.0% in the 2nd quarter. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. now owns 369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Clear Investment Research LLC raised its position in NextEra Energy by 387.2% in the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 458 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 364 shares during the period. American Capital Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 74.5% during the 1st quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 480 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy in the 2nd quarter worth $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NEE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on NextEra Energy from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $73.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Mizuho lowered shares of NextEra Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $71.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.50.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NEE traded up $0.60 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $80.93. 560,821 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,961,434. The stock has a market cap of $166.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.89, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.54. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $75.95 and a 200-day moving average of $70.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.49. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $47.15 and a 52 week high of $82.14.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.03. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.75% and a net margin of 24.45%. The company had revenue of $6.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th will be given a $0.515 dividend. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.13%.

Insider Activity at NextEra Energy

In other NextEra Energy news, EVP Nicole J. Daggs sold 658 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.97, for a total value of $50,646.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,697. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.