NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) Shares Sold by Zacks Investment Management

Zacks Investment Management lowered its stake in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) by 12.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 241,557 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 35,246 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management's holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $17,317,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 14.7% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $130,714,000 after acquiring an additional 41,328 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,833,725 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $634,703,000 after purchasing an additional 1,525,436 shares during the period. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 445,870 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,964,000 after purchasing an additional 27,340 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 171,735 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $12,312,000 after buying an additional 9,425 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $97.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets cut 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $85.15.

Insider Activity

In other NextEra Energy news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 27,427 shares in the company, valued at $1,867,504.43. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

NextEra Energy Trading Down 3.0 %

NEE opened at $65.64 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $135.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. The firm's 50 day moving average is $69.78 and its 200-day moving average is $73.56. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $61.72 and a 52-week high of $86.10.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS 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%. Analysts expect that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.45%. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 67.06%.

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.

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