Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Grows Stock Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 13.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 38,169 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,426 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $2,736,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC raised 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 valued at $3,267,000 after acquiring an additional 5,831 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.3% in the fourth 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 stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,833,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $634,703,000 after buying an additional 1,525,436 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted 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 buying an additional 27,340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 5.8% in the 4th 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions 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 shares were sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total value of $162,258.47. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,427 shares in the company, valued at $1,867,504.43. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NEE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $89.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank increased their price target 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $85.92.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE NEE opened at $70.44 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $144.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $61.31 and a 52-week high of $86.10. The company has a fifty day moving average of $70.67 and a 200-day moving average of $75.14.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.5665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.06%.

About NextEra Energy

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.