NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) Shares Bought by Sandy Spring Bank

Sandy Spring Bank increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 193,331 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,245 shares during the period. Sandy Spring Bank's holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $13,860,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its position in NextEra Energy by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 299,215 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,293,000 after buying an additional 5,409 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $406,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $183,000. Pathstone Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 4.4% during the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 285,590 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $24,141,000 after purchasing an additional 11,971 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC increased its holdings in NextEra Energy by 8.3% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 33,960 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,871,000 after buying an additional 2,616 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,427 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,867,504.43. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NEE traded down $0.86 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $70.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,383,998 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,164,200. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $70.62 and a 200 day moving average of $75.49. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.30 and a twelve month high of $86.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $144.03 billion, a PE ratio of 20.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58.

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, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 28.06%. On average, equities analysts expect that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This is a boost from NextEra Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $85.92.

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.