NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE Shares Purchased by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 2.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 16,787,191 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 373,088 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $1,267,265,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 213,799,521 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,139,726,000 after acquiring an additional 922,500 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 45,724,229 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,161,774,000 after acquiring an additional 526,996 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,375,545,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,786,728 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,165,896,000 after acquiring an additional 340,315 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 18.7% in the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 10,796,329 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $749,481,000 after purchasing an additional 1,701,648 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 1.1%

NEE stock opened at $92.05 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $191.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.98 and a beta of 0.75. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $61.72 and a 1-year high of $95.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $87.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.01. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 24.93% and a return on equity of 12.18%. The company had revenue of $6.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.07 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be issued a $0.6232 dividend. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 75.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NEE has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $91.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of NextEra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.16.

Insider Buying and Selling at NextEra Energy

In related news, EVP Ronald R. Reagan sold 18,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $1,675,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 9,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $867,870. This trade represents a 65.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $2,700,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 167,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,073,290. This represents a 15.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 159,049 shares of company stock worth $14,194,542 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Company Profile

NextEra Energy, Inc (NYSE: NEE), headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida, is a leading clean energy company with both regulated utility operations and competitive renewable generation businesses. The company’s principal operating subsidiaries include Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), a regulated electric utility serving customers in Florida, and NextEra Energy Resources, which develops, constructs, owns and operates a large portfolio of wind, solar and energy storage projects. Together these businesses provide electricity supply, transmission and distribution services as well as utility-scale renewable generation and related services.

NextEra’s activities cover the full lifecycle of power assets, from project development and construction to operation, maintenance and asset optimization.