Westpac Banking Corp Acquires 4,150 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Westpac Banking Corp grew its position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) by 16.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,284 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,150 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp's holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $2,099,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 45,566 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,267,000 after purchasing an additional 5,831 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its position in NextEra Energy by 2.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 41,328 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 20.9% in 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 stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 445,870 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,964,000 after purchasing an additional 27,340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its stake in NextEra Energy by 5.8% in 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 in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Remove Ads

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NEE. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research 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 research report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $85.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NextEra Energy news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total value of $162,258.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,427 shares in the company, valued at $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 through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:NEE traded up $3.64 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $67.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 23,201,276 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,804,156. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $61.31 and a 12-month high of $86.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $70.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.10. The stock has a market cap of $139.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.10, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58.

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 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 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This is an increase 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 3.34%. NextEra Energy's 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.