New York State Common Retirement Fund Buys 9,800 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,759,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,800 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $197,858,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in NextEra Energy by 1,229.6% in the 4th quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 359 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in NextEra Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC acquired a new stake in NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:NEE opened at $68.37 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.58. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $53.95 and a twelve month high of $86.10. The company has a fifty day moving average of $70.72 and a 200-day moving average of $76.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 28.06% and a return on equity of 11.85%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS 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 dividend of $0.5665 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NEE. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on NextEra Energy from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.85.

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.