Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. Grows Stock Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 61,259 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 536 shares during the period. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $4,392,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 45,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,267,000 after purchasing an additional 5,831 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,833,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $634,703,000 after buying an additional 1,525,436 shares during the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in NextEra Energy by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,823,327 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $130,714,000 after buying an additional 41,328 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 0.4% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 6,098,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $515,481,000 after acquiring an additional 21,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 445,870 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,964,000 after acquiring an additional 27,340 shares during the period. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total transaction of $162,258.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,867,504.43. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

NextEra Energy Trading Up 2.3 %

NYSE NEE opened at $71.74 on Friday. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.95 and a 52 week high of $86.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $70.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.56. 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 has a market capitalization of $147.56 billion, a PE ratio of 21.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 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, research analysts expect that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NEE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on NextEra Energy from $99.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank raised their target price on NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.