Cozad Asset Management Inc. Lowers Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Cozad Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 9.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,768 shares during the period. Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $986,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NEE. Field & Main Bank lifted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 22,870 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240 shares during the period. Amica Mutual Insurance Co. increased its holdings in NextEra Energy by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Amica Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 116,011 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,047,000 after buying an additional 14,549 shares in the last quarter. Ledyard National Bank raised its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Ledyard National Bank now owns 49,289 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,994,000 after acquiring an additional 1,941 shares during the period. Steele Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $506,000. Finally, Investment House LLC boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Investment House LLC now owns 21,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,291,000 after acquiring an additional 1,325 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 2.5 %

NEE stock opened at $68.62 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $61.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.41. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $47.15 and a 12 month high of $78.53. The company has a market cap of $140.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.70, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.50.

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

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 26th. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is currently 56.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NEE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays assumed coverage on NextEra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $66.00 target price on the stock. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of NextEra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy currently has a consensus 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.