Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Purchases 4,426 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 13.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,169 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,426 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $2,736,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of NEE. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position 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 in the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake 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 period. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings 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 worth $31,964,000 after buying an additional 27,340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 5.8% during 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NEE opened at $70.44 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The stock has a market cap of $144.90 billion, a PE ratio of 20.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $75.14. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $61.31 and a 1-year high of $86.10.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting 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, analysts forecast 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 was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.5665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NEE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank increased their price target 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, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.92.

Insider Activity at NextEra Energy

In other NextEra Energy news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 $1,867,504.43. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.