Natixis Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 941,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,190 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $67,467,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harbour Investment Management LLC grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investment Management LLC now owns 43,319 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,106,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 37.3% during the 4th quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 23,762 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,703,000 after buying an additional 6,456 shares during the last quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co grew its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 19,550 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,402,000 after buying an additional 1,260 shares in the last quarter. First National Trust Co increased its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. First National Trust Co now owns 242,289 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,370,000 after buying an additional 2,385 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in NextEra Energy by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC now owns 45,653 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,273,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NEE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank lifted their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective 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. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, NextEra Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.92.

NextEra Energy Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NEE stock opened at $73.59 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.37 billion, a PE ratio of 21.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. 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 1 year low of $59.44 and a 1 year high of $86.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $70.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.85.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.5665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. This is a boost from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.06%.

Insider Transactions at NextEra Energy

In related news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 27,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,867,504.43. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy 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.