Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $405.55 Million Stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,656,964 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 160,114 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $405,548,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 1.3% in the third quarter. Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV now owns 9,935 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $840,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Taylor & Morgan Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.7% in the third quarter. Taylor & Morgan Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $655,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Insight Folios Inc lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.5% in the third quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 8,439 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $713,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.2% in the third quarter. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC now owns 10,724 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $906,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 0.4% in the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 30,720 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,597,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

NYSE:NEE opened at $68.06 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $70.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $139.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.58. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.95 and a 12-month high of $86.10.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 28.06%. On average, analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.5665 dividend. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Guggenheim boosted their price target on NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays boosted their price target on NextEra Energy from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Scotiabank upped their target price on NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on NextEra Energy from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.85.

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.