Hopwood Financial Services Inc. Acquires New Stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $74,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NEE. Amundi raised its stake in NextEra Energy by 49.8% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 9,543,552 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $676,008,000 after purchasing an additional 3,172,405 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in NextEra Energy by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,833,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $634,703,000 after purchasing an additional 1,525,436 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 167.7% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,186,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $184,795,000 after acquiring an additional 1,369,689 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 13,375.2% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 946,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,835,000 after acquiring an additional 939,209 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 42,418,748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,571,650,000 after acquiring an additional 820,704 shares during the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NextEra Energy stock opened at $73.03 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $70.46 and a 200 day moving average of $75.95. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $58.88 and a 12 month high of $86.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.38.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 28.06%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.5665 dividend. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This is a boost from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NEE. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank raised their target price on NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI cut their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, NextEra Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.92.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total value of $162,258.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,867,504.43. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

About NextEra Energy

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.