Arizona State Retirement System Grows Stock Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 595,259 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,175 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $42,674,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NEE. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in NextEra Energy by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 42,418,748 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,571,650,000 after acquiring an additional 820,704 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,523,786 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,041,210,000 after acquiring an additional 588,038 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,630,784 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $977,191,000 after acquiring an additional 345,999 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,833,725 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $634,703,000 after buying an additional 1,525,436 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,630,775 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $729,559,000 after purchasing an additional 452,590 shares during the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $99.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $85.85.

Insider Activity

In other NextEra Energy news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total value of $162,258.47. Following the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:NEE opened at $70.85 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $145.74 billion, a PE ratio of 21.02, 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 $54.95 and a fifty-two week high of $86.10. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $70.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.20.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 28.06%. Equities research analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.5665 dividend. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. This is a boost from NextEra Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.

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