Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Lowers Stock Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund cut its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) by 74.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,252 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 45,577 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund's holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $1,093,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 1,229.6% in the 4th quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 359 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in NextEra Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC acquired a new stake in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total transaction of $162,258.47. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,427 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,867,504.43. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on NEE. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Guggenheim increased their price target on NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $85.85.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NextEra Energy stock traded up $1.60 on Friday, hitting $71.74. The company had a trading volume of 16,739,967 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,463,395. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.47. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $70.56 and a 200-day moving average of $76.59. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.95 and a 1 year high of $86.10.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 28.06%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.5665 dividend. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from NextEra Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.13%.

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.