NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Trading Down 0.2% - Time to Sell?

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report)'s stock price was down 0.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $83.84 and last traded at $84.25. Approximately 1,402,341 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 10,774,679 shares. The stock had previously closed at $84.39.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NEE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $69.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on NextEra Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $87.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $83.07.

NextEra Energy Stock Down 0.7 %

The company has a market capitalization of $172.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.83, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.03. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.75% and a net margin of 24.45%. The company had revenue of $6.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.29 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were given a $0.515 dividend. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Nicole J. Daggs sold 658 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.97, for a total transaction of $50,646.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,697. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,298,642 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,508,155,000 after acquiring an additional 143,748 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 9.2% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,178,185 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $579,097,000 after purchasing an additional 691,341 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in NextEra Energy by 22.3% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,961,556 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $443,834,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268,900 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in NextEra Energy by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,100,348 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $431,966,000 after purchasing an additional 409,708 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 5,981,760 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $423,568,000 after buying an additional 388,149 shares during the period. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.