Smith Moore & CO. Boosts Stock Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Smith Moore & CO. raised its position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 937 shares during the quarter. Smith Moore & CO.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $1,009,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NEE. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its holdings in NextEra Energy by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 299,215 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,293,000 after purchasing an additional 5,409 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in NextEra Energy by 11.7% during the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 798,757 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,519,000 after buying an additional 83,526 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc raised its holdings in NextEra Energy by 0.6% in the third quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 117,619 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,942,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Temasek Holdings Private Ltd purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,272,000. 78.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NextEra Energy Stock Down 7.2 %

NEE stock opened at $66.97 on Friday. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $61.31 and a one year high of $86.10. The firm has a market cap of $137.75 billion, a PE ratio of 19.87, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $70.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.47.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 28.06%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. 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. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on NEE. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $89.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price 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 objective on NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.92.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 transaction of $162,258.47. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,427 shares in the company, valued at $1,867,504.43. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.