AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC Takes $2.21 Million Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 30,857 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,212,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.8% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 299,215 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,293,000 after purchasing an additional 5,409 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in NextEra Energy during the third quarter worth about $183,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in NextEra Energy by 2,482.6% in the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 571 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 2,756 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $233,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baldwin Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC now owns 35,357 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,989,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.92.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

NEE stock opened at $69.66 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $143.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.67, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $70.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.30. 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 $61.31 and a 52-week high of $86.10.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its earnings results 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.5665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This is a boost from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NextEra Energy

In other news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total value of $162,258.47. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,867,504.43. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.