KBC Group NV Boosts Stock Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

KBC Group NV grew its holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) by 8.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 160,802 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 13,045 shares during the period. KBC Group NV's holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $13,593,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 0.7% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,298,642 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,508,155,000 after acquiring an additional 143,748 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 9.2% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,178,185 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $579,097,000 after purchasing an additional 691,341 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 14.3% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 6,809,093 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $575,573,000 after acquiring an additional 851,873 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 7.2% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,100,348 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $431,966,000 after purchasing an additional 409,708 shares during the period. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 6.9% during the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 5,981,760 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $423,568,000 after buying an additional 388,149 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on NEE. Scotiabank raised their price target on NextEra Energy from $73.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $83.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $87.00 target price on the stock. Dbs Bank lowered shares of NextEra Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on NextEra Energy from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $86.54.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NEE stock traded up $1.07 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $76.35. 12,930,527 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,391,344. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.41 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The company's 50 day moving average is $81.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.48. The company has a market cap of $157.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.57. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.95 and a 1 year high of $86.10.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.05. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.94% and a net margin of 26.49%. The company had revenue of $7.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. NextEra Energy's quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.515 dividend. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. NextEra Energy's payout ratio is currently 60.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Nicole J. Daggs sold 4,007 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.57, for a total transaction of $302,808.99. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,792 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,193,401.44. This trade represents a 20.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

NextEra Energy Company 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.