National Pension Service Purchases 84,127 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

National Pension Service increased its position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,360,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 84,127 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $204,138,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp boosted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 59.8% in the third quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. grew its position in NextEra Energy by 315.4% during the 4th quarter. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on NEE. Bank of America lifted their price target on NextEra Energy from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays began coverage on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $66.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com raised NextEra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.93.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NEE traded up $0.78 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $73.63. 4,877,007 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,826,421. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.51. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $47.15 and a fifty-two week high of $78.53. The company has a market cap of $151.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $62.65 and its 200-day moving average is $59.94.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $5.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.28 billion. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 27.62%. NextEra Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 26th. This is a boost from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is 56.13%.

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.