Inspire Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Inspire Advisors LLC lifted its position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,968 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 608 shares during the quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $1,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of NEE. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $25,293,000 after purchasing an additional 5,409 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 162,506 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,737,000 after acquiring an additional 19,951 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc boosted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 155,660 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,158,000 after acquiring an additional 1,295 shares during the period. Sheets Smith Wealth Management boosted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 7,245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $612,000 after acquiring an additional 650 shares during the period. Finally, XML Financial LLC boosted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 16,577 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,401,000 after acquiring an additional 429 shares during the period. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on NextEra Energy from $99.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on NextEra Energy from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.85.

Insider Transactions at NextEra Energy

In other news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total value of $162,258.47. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,427 shares in the company, valued at $1,867,504.43. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 4.5 %

Shares of NYSE:NEE opened at $76.14 on Tuesday. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $56.55 and a 52-week high of $86.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $156.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $70.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.47.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.5665 dividend. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.