Schroder Investment Management Group Raises Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) by 44.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,064,781 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,499,011 shares during the quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group owned approximately 0.39% of NextEra Energy worth $578,164,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NEE. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its stake in NextEra Energy by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 299,215 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $25,293,000 after acquiring an additional 5,409 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 37.4% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 46,646 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,943,000 after purchasing an additional 12,689 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $477,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 30,417 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,571,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the period. Finally, Isthmus Partners LLC bought a new position in NextEra Energy in the 3rd quarter worth $579,000. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on NEE shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $89.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $85.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 value 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 trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

NextEra Energy Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of NEE traded up $2.00 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $72.48. The stock had a trading volume of 6,006,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,616,696. The stock's 50 day moving average is $70.71 and its 200 day moving average is $74.87. The firm has a market cap of $149.09 billion, a PE ratio of 21.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.38. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $61.31 and a 1 year high of $86.10.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 28.06% and a return on equity of 11.85%. As a group, analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.5665 dividend. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from NextEra Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio is 67.06%.

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.