Independence Bank of Kentucky Raises Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 8.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 49,722 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,707 shares during the quarter. NextEra Energy accounts for approximately 1.0% of Independence Bank of Kentucky’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $3,178,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 387.2% during the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 458 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 315.4% in the fourth quarter. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NEE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of NextEra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on NextEra Energy from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Scotiabank upped their target price on NextEra Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Mizuho lowered NextEra Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $71.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on NextEra Energy from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.57.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NEE traded down $2.91 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $70.81. The stock had a trading volume of 23,935,557 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,340,414. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $47.15 and a 1 year high of $80.47. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $73.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $64.47. The company has a market capitalization of $145.48 billion, a PE ratio of 19.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.56.

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

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were issued a $0.515 dividend. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 3rd. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.13%.

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.