US Bancorp DE Boosts Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

US Bancorp DE boosted its position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,066,037 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 76,049 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $219,805,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in NextEra Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC grew its position in NextEra Energy by 1,229.6% in the 4th quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 359 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in NextEra Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC purchased a new position in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at NextEra Energy

In other news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total transaction of $162,258.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,867,504.43. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

NextEra Energy Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NEE stock opened at $70.17 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $70.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.32. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $53.95 and a twelve month high of $86.10. The company has a market capitalization of $144.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.82, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its 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 net margin of 28.06% and a return on equity of 11.85%. Research analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.5665 dividend. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is presently 67.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NEE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI decreased 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. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $99.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, NextEra Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.85.

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.