DNB Asset Management AS Grows Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

DNB Asset Management AS lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE – Get Rating) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 834,408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 55,817 shares during the period. DNB Asset Management AS’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $69,757,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 189,253,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,839,329,000 after buying an additional 3,870,385 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.6% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 19,626,941 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,538,947,000 after buying an additional 315,356 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 0.8% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 16,099,565 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,247,074,000 after buying an additional 124,572 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 4.8% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 10,622,137 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $832,882,000 after buying an additional 482,717 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. boosted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.4% during the third quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 10,087,751 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $790,981,000 after buying an additional 141,691 shares during the last quarter. 76.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on NextEra Energy from $101.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 30th. Guggenheim lowered their target price on NextEra Energy from $102.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on NextEra Energy from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on NextEra Energy from $100.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised NextEra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.83.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NEE traded down $0.56 during trading on Friday, hitting $75.67. The company had a trading volume of 14,137,395 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,084,818. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.51. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $67.22 and a 12 month high of $91.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.44.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.58 billion. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 12.51% and a net margin of 19.79%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.12 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.4675 per share. This represents a $1.87 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 27th. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.47%.

Insider Activity at NextEra Energy

In other NextEra Energy news, Director Amy B. Lane bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $74.86 per share, with a total value of $74,860.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 41,277 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,089,996.22. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other NextEra Energy news, Director Amy B. Lane bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $74.86 per share, with a total value of $74,860.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 41,277 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,089,996.22. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Terrell Kirk Crews II bought 2,672 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $74.87 per share, for a total transaction of $200,052.64. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,170 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,483,437.90. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 18,872 shares of company stock valued at $1,417,721. 0.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

NextEra Energy Profile

(Get Rating)

NextEra Energy, Inc engages in the provision of renewable energy. It operates through the following segments: FPL and NEER. The FPL segment involves the generation, transmission, distribution, and sale of electric energy in Florida. The NEER segment produces electricity from clean and renewable sources, including wind and solar.