New York State Common Retirement Fund Buys 9,800 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,759,917 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 9,800 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.13% of NextEra Energy worth $197,858,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NEE. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in NextEra Energy by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 45,566 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,267,000 after buying an additional 5,831 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased 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 during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its position in NextEra Energy by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,823,327 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $130,714,000 after buying an additional 41,328 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its position in NextEra Energy by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 6,098,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $515,481,000 after buying an additional 21,400 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its position in NextEra Energy by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 445,870 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,964,000 after buying an additional 27,340 shares during the period. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

NYSE:NEE traded up $1.60 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $71.74. The company had a trading volume of 16,739,967 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,463,395. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $70.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.59. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $53.95 and a one year high of $86.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.56 billion, a PE ratio of 21.29, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.58. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 28.06%. Analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio is 61.13%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was 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 $1,867,504.43. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on NEE shares. Scotiabank lifted their price target on NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays lifted their price target on NextEra Energy from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on NextEra Energy from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on NextEra Energy from $99.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on 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. 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 has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $85.85.

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.