Sandbox Financial Partners LLC Trims Stock Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Sandbox Financial Partners LLC decreased its position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 28.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,750 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,790 shares during the period. Sandbox Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $896,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NEE. United Bank boosted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 9.8% during the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 9,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $844,000 after purchasing an additional 891 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 32,180 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,726,000 after buying an additional 2,700 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its stake in NextEra Energy by 11.2% during the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 15,731 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,333,000 after acquiring an additional 1,587 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its position in NextEra Energy by 59.1% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 878 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ergoteles LLC purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy during the first quarter worth about $793,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NEE stock opened at $63.91 on Friday. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $47.15 and a 1 year high of $79.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market cap of $131.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.70, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $57.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.62.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.03. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 26.00% and a return on equity of 11.73%. The business had revenue of $6.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.72 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. Analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. This is a boost from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 26th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on NEE. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $76.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Mizuho reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $67.00 price objective (up previously from $65.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded NextEra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.46.

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.