NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) Stake Raised by Rathbones Group PLC

Rathbones Group PLC boosted its position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 16.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 635,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 88,955 shares during the quarter. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $45,580,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Eight investment 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 presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.92.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE NEE opened at $66.97 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $70.65 and a 200-day moving average of $74.59. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $61.31 and a 1-year high of $86.10. The firm has a market cap of $137.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.87, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is currently 67.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NextEra Energy

In related news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of NextEra Energy 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,867,504.43. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.