HTLF Bank Purchases Shares of 8,903 NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

HTLF Bank purchased a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 8,903 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $541,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in NextEra Energy by 32.1% during the fourth quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 17,526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,065,000 after buying an additional 4,256 shares during the period. Western Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 41,630 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,529,000 after purchasing an additional 6,980 shares during the period. Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp purchased a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $311,000. Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 261,546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,886,000 after purchasing an additional 19,785 shares during the period. Finally, SFE Investment Counsel boosted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 33.8% during the fourth quarter. SFE Investment Counsel now owns 109,399 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,645,000 after purchasing an additional 27,665 shares during the period. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NEE opened at $64.31 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $131.99 billion, a PE ratio of 17.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.51. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $47.15 and a 1-year high of $79.78.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.72 billion. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 26.00% and a return on equity of 11.73%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.51 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.515 per share. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 26th. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is presently 57.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NEE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Mizuho restated a “buy” rating and issued a $67.00 price objective (up from $65.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Friday, March 15th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.36.

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.