Vanguard Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 205,297,225 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 2,090,538 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 9.98% of NextEra Energy worth $14,717,758,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.8% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 299,215 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $25,293,000 after purchasing an additional 5,409 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in NextEra Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $183,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,055,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $5,382,000. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 6.0% in the third quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 19,232 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,626,000 after acquiring an additional 1,093 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.72% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $85.92.

Remove Ads

NextEra Energy Price Performance

NEE stock traded up $0.35 on Thursday, reaching $70.08. 8,748,066 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,108,621. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $70.68 and a 200-day moving average of $75.27. The firm has a market cap of $144.15 billion, a PE ratio of 20.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.31 and a twelve month high of $86.10.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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, equities analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 positive change from NextEra Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. NextEra Energy's payout ratio is 67.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NextEra Energy news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the business'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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,867,504.43. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.