Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. Boosts Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. grew its position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 10.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,024 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,739 shares during the period. Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $2,797,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 45,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,267,000 after purchasing an additional 5,831 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.3% during 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 raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,833,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $634,703,000 after purchasing an additional 1,525,436 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 0.4% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 6,098,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $515,481,000 after purchasing an additional 21,400 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 445,870 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,964,000 after purchasing an additional 27,340 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total transaction of $162,258.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,867,504.43. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on NEE shares. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $85.92.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NextEra Energy stock opened at $72.70 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $149.55 billion, a PE ratio of 21.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $70.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.38. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $58.88 and a 12 month high of $86.10.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced 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 net margin of 28.06% and a return on equity of 11.85%. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.12%. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is 67.06%.

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.