Do Hedge Funds and Insiders Love NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)?

Is NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) ready to raly soon? The best stock pickers are becoming less confident. The number of bullish hedge fund bets decreased by 2 lately.

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

To the average investor, there are a multitude of methods market participants can use to track publicly traded companies. A duo of the best are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite fund managers can outperform the market by a healthy amount (see just how much).

Just as important, positive insider trading activity is a second way to break down the financial markets. Just as you’d expect, there are a number of incentives for a corporate insider to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would buy. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if shareholders understand what to do (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, it’s important to take a look at the latest action regarding NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE).

What does the smart money think about NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)?

Heading into 2013, a total of 18 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -10% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings substantially.

Of the funds we track, Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management had the biggest position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE), worth close to $93 million, accounting for 0.3% of its total 13F portfolio. On Adage Capital Management’s heels is Millennium Management, managed by Israel Englander, which held a $78 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other hedge funds with similar optimism include Bernard Horn’s Polaris Capital Management, David Harding’s Winton Capital Management and John A. Levin’s Levin Capital Strategies.

Since NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) has witnessed bearish sentiment from hedge fund managers, it’s safe to say that there was a specific group of fund managers that elected to cut their positions entirely heading into 2013. Interestingly, Clint Carlson’s Carlson Capital said goodbye to the largest investment of the “upper crust” of funds we track, totaling about $26 million in stock., and Andrew R. Midler of Savitr Capital was right behind this move, as the fund dropped about $3 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as total hedge fund interest fell by 2 funds heading into 2013.

Insider trading activity in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Insider buying is most useful when the company in question has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last 180-day time frame, NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) has experienced 1 unique insiders buying, and 6 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the results shown by our strategies, retail investors must always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) applies perfectly to this mantra.

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