First Trust Advisors LP Buys 819,518 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) by 355.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,049,949 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 819,518 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.05% of NextEra Energy worth $75,271,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 205,297,225 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $14,717,758,000 after acquiring an additional 2,090,538 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,484,197,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 43,778,016 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,129,132,000 after buying an additional 1,359,268 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in 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 buying an additional 588,038 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in 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. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other NextEra Energy news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total value of $162,258.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,427 shares in the company, valued at $1,867,504.43. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of NextEra Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $73.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $89.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on NextEra Energy from $97.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $84.08.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NEE traded down $0.81 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $66.46. 13,722,526 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,821,874. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.72 and a twelve month high of $86.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $136.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $69.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.99. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 28.06% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The firm had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.58 billion. As a group, 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 was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.5665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. This is an increase from NextEra Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.