Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Cuts Stock Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. decreased its position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) by 13.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,099,925 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 165,156 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of NextEra Energy worth $78,854,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 45,566 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,267,000 after purchasing an additional 5,831 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,823,327 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $130,714,000 after acquiring an additional 41,328 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,833,725 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $634,703,000 after acquiring an additional 1,525,436 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 445,870 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,964,000 after purchasing an additional 27,340 shares during the period. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 171,735 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $12,312,000 after purchasing an additional 9,425 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total value of $162,258.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,427 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,867,504.43. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on NEE shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $73.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $97.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded NextEra Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $84.46.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NextEra Energy stock traded up $1.55 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $68.19. 10,560,643 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,795,181. The firm's fifty day moving average is $69.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.96. The company has a market capitalization of $140.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.72 and a fifty-two week high of $86.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.38.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.99. The firm had revenue of $6.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.58 billion. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 28.06%. On average, equities research analysts expect that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.5665 dividend. This is an increase from NextEra Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio is 67.06%.

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.