NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) Shares Bought by Quantbot Technologies LP

Quantbot Technologies LP increased its stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 45.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 121,639 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 38,016 shares during the quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $8,720,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 45,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,267,000 after acquiring an additional 5,831 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,823,327 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $130,714,000 after purchasing an additional 41,328 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in NextEra Energy by 20.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 445,870 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,964,000 after purchasing an additional 27,340 shares during the period. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 171,735 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,312,000 after buying an additional 9,425 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

NextEra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NEE opened at $70.92 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $70.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.56. The company has a market cap of $145.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $61.30 and a 12-month high of $86.10. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share 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%. Equities analysts expect that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.5665 dividend. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 67.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NEE has been the subject of several research reports. Scotiabank raised their target price on NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $89.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.92.

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.