Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Buys New Stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 350,750 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $25,145,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC boosted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 1,229.6% during the fourth quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 359 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in NextEra Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on NEE shares. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $89.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Scotiabank increased their price target on NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $85.92.

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Insider Transactions at NextEra Energy

In other NextEra Energy news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total value of $162,258.47. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,427 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,867,504.43. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NextEra Energy stock traded up $2.00 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $72.48. The company had a trading volume of 8,738,439 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,628,373. The stock has a market cap of $149.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.51, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $61.31 and a 12-month high of $86.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.87.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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%. As a group, analysts predict 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 3.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio is 67.06%.

NextEra Energy 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.