Empirical Finance LLC Acquires 2,508 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Empirical Finance LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 3.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 72,286 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,508 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $4,620,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NEE. Clear Investment Research LLC raised its position in NextEra Energy by 387.2% during the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 458 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. American Capital Advisory LLC boosted its position in NextEra Energy by 74.5% in the 1st quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 480 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:NEE traded up $1.30 on Friday, hitting $76.00. 10,881,594 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,739,303. 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 1-year low of $47.15 and a 1-year high of $80.47. The company has a market capitalization of $156.14 billion, a PE ratio of 20.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.54. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $74.15 and its 200 day moving average is $65.16.

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

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were issued a $0.515 dividend. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 3rd. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is currently 56.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on NEE shares. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on NextEra Energy from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of NextEra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, NextEra Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.50.

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.