Investors Purchase Large Volume of NextEra Energy Call Options (NYSE:NEE)

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock investors acquired 32,735 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 63% compared to the typical volume of 20,079 call options.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NEE stock traded up $2.73 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $75.56. 12,441,176 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,380,467. NextEra Energy has a fifty-two week low of $56.55 and a fifty-two week high of $86.10. The firm has a market cap of $155.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $70.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.03.

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, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 28.06% and a return on equity of 11.85%. Sell-side analysts forecast that NextEra Energy 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This is a boost from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is 67.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,867,504.43. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NextEra Energy

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position 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 in the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,823,327 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $130,714,000 after buying an additional 41,328 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in NextEra Energy by 20.9% in 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 during the period. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 0.4% in 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 grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 445,870 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,964,000 after purchasing an additional 27,340 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on NEE shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on 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. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. 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 report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $99.00 to $90.00 in a report 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.85.

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.