NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) Shares Purchased by Smith Moore & CO.

Smith Moore & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 937 shares during the period. Smith Moore & CO.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $1,009,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,484,197,000. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter worth $244,169,000. Amundi grew its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 49.8% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 9,543,552 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $676,008,000 after purchasing an additional 3,172,405 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 46.7% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 7,910,346 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $567,093,000 after purchasing an additional 2,517,369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group raised its stake in NextEra Energy by 44.9% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 8,064,781 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $578,164,000 after buying an additional 2,499,011 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on NEE. Scotiabank upped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley upped 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. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $89.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.92.

NextEra Energy Stock Down 7.2 %

NextEra Energy stock opened at $66.97 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $70.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.73. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.31 and a twelve month high of $86.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $137.75 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 28.06% and a return on equity of 11.85%. As a group, research analysts expect that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.5665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.38%. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NextEra Energy

In other news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.