James Investment Research Inc. Lowers Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

James Investment Research Inc. lowered its holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,085 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 487 shares during the period. James Investment Research Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $3,376,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Lee Financial Co raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Lee Financial Co now owns 4,365 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $313,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. WD Rutherford LLC raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. WD Rutherford LLC now owns 24,720 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,772,000 after acquiring an additional 1,015 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $203,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 26.9% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 366,328 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,090,000 after acquiring an additional 77,642 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 58,152 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,169,000 after buying an additional 6,231 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NEE. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on NextEra Energy from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Guggenheim raised their price objective on NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.85.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

NEE opened at $68.06 on Friday. 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 $53.95 and a 52-week high of $86.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.97 billion, a PE ratio of 20.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $70.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.82.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its 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 return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 28.06%. On average, equities research analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This is a boost from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is 61.13%.

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.