Nixon Peabody Trust Co. Purchases 144,464 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Nixon Peabody Trust Co. raised its stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) by 474.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 174,935 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 144,464 shares during the quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co.'s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $10,626,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 315.4% during the 4th quarter. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, HBC Financial Services PLLC purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company's stock.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 1.7 %

NYSE:NEE traded up $1.30 on Friday, hitting $76.62. 7,599,684 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,642,629. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $67.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.43. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $47.15 and a 52 week high of $77.41. The company has a market cap of $157.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.50.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $5.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.28 billion. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 27.62%. NextEra Energy's revenue was down 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.84 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 3rd. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on NEE shares. Barclays began coverage on NextEra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $66.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho boosted their price objective on NextEra Energy from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $72.64.

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.

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