Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Increases Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) by 20.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 181,434 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 30,965 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $15,337,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NEE. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 64.0% during the 2nd quarter. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. now owns 369 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 197.4% during the 2nd quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 339 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the period. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on NEE. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on NextEra Energy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a "hold" rating and a $87.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut NextEra Energy from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on NextEra Energy from $73.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $86.54.

NextEra Energy Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of NextEra Energy stock traded down $1.65 on Tuesday, hitting $74.26. 12,567,645 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,923,739. The company has a market cap of $152.71 billion, a PE ratio of 21.97, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.57. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $81.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.81 and a 52 week high of $86.10.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.05. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 26.49% and a return on equity of 11.94%. The company had revenue of $7.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.94 earnings per share. NextEra Energy's revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.41 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.515 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. NextEra Energy's payout ratio is currently 60.95%.

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.