Rockport Wealth LLC Increases Stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Rockport Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 6.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,842 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Rockport Wealth LLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $275,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NEE. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.8% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 299,215 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,293,000 after buying an additional 5,409 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in NextEra Energy during the third quarter valued at about $406,000. KBC Group NV boosted its position in NextEra Energy by 8.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 160,802 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,593,000 after purchasing an additional 13,045 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc bought a new stake in NextEra Energy during the third quarter valued at about $1,624,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in NextEra Energy by 8.1% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 39,735 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,359,000 after purchasing an additional 2,974 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:NEE opened at $73.59 on Monday. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $59.44 and a 52-week high of $86.10. The stock has a market cap of $151.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.84, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $70.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.82.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This is a boost from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on NEE shares. Scotiabank raised their price objective on NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.92.

Insider Activity at NextEra Energy

In related news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,867,504.43. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is 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.