Cohen & Steers Inc. Purchases 53,759 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Cohen & Steers Inc. grew its holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,262,515 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 53,759 shares during the period. Cohen & Steers Inc. owned about 0.26% of NextEra Energy worth $377,270,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 205,297,225 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $14,717,758,000 after buying an additional 2,090,538 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter worth $3,484,197,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 43,778,016 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,129,132,000 after purchasing an additional 1,359,268 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,523,786 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,041,210,000 after purchasing an additional 588,038 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,630,784 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $977,191,000 after buying an additional 345,999 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on NEE shares. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $89.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped 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. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $85.15.

NextEra Energy Trading Up 1.0 %

NEE stock traded up $0.65 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $66.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,210,902 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,804,052. The firm has a market capitalization of $136.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.67, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $61.72 and a 1 year 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.30.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 28.06% and a return on equity of 11.85%. On average, equities research analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.5665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. This is a boost from NextEra Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio is 67.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NextEra Energy news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total transaction of $162,258.47. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.