Allstate Corp Makes New $4.37 Million Investment in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Allstate Corp purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 60,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,370,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,484,197,000. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter worth $244,169,000. Amundi grew its holdings in NextEra Energy by 49.8% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 9,543,552 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $676,008,000 after purchasing an additional 3,172,405 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 205,297,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,717,758,000 after buying an additional 2,090,538 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $634,703,000 after buying an additional 1,525,436 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NextEra Energy news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the business’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 $1,867,504.43. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NEE stock opened at $70.44 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $144.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $70.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.19. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $61.31 and a one year high of $86.10. 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 (NYSE:NEE) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.5665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. This is a boost from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is presently 67.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NEE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Scotiabank increased their target price on NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI cut 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.92.

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.