PDS Planning Inc Increases Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

PDS Planning Inc lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 667 shares during the quarter. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $1,002,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NEE. Burkett Financial Services LLC increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 1,229.6% during the fourth quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 359 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in NextEra Energy in the third quarter worth about $33,000. Luken Investment Analytics LLC acquired a new position in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. 78.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at NextEra Energy

In related news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the business’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 transaction of $162,258.47. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now 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 the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on NEE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on NextEra Energy from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.92.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NEE opened at $72.15 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.77. The company has a market cap of $148.41 billion, a PE ratio of 21.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $59.44 and a 12-month high of $86.10.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.5665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 3.14%. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is currently 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.