California Public Employees Retirement System Purchases 2,517,369 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 46.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,910,346 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,517,369 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $567,093,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 1,229.6% in the 4th quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 359 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank increased their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.92.

Insider Activity at NextEra Energy

In other news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NEE opened at $70.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market cap of $144.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $70.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.14. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $61.31 and a one year high of $86.10.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 28.06% and a return on equity of 11.85%. On average, equities analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders 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 3.22%. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. 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.