Raymond James & Associates Purchases 851,873 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Raymond James & Associates raised its position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,809,093 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 851,873 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $575,573,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. raised its stake in NextEra Energy by 64.0% during the second quarter. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. now owns 369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in NextEra Energy by 197.4% in the 2nd quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in NextEra Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in NextEra Energy in the second quarter worth about $43,000. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NEE traded up $0.60 on Friday, reaching $84.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,595,305 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,786,079. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $81.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $75.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $173.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.98, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.56. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $50.95 and a 12-month high of $86.10.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.03. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 24.45% and a return on equity of 11.75%. The business had revenue of $6.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. Research analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Nicole J. Daggs sold 658 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.97, for a total transaction of $50,646.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,697. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NEE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Citigroup increased their target price on NextEra Energy from $69.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays boosted their price target on NextEra Energy from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on NextEra Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $87.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Dbs Bank downgraded NextEra Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.64.

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.