Covington Investment Advisors Inc. Has $4.11 Million Stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Covington Investment Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 57,269 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 936 shares during the period. Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $4,106,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 205,297,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,717,758,000 after acquiring an additional 2,090,538 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,484,197,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 42,418,748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,571,650,000 after buying an additional 820,704 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,523,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,041,210,000 after purchasing an additional 588,038 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,630,784 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $977,191,000 after buying an additional 345,999 shares during the period. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at NextEra Energy

In related news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were 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 directly owns 27,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,867,504.43. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on NEE shares. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $89.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Scotiabank increased their price target 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. Evercore ISI cut 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Eight 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.92.

NextEra Energy Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NEE stock opened at $70.08 on Friday. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $61.31 and a 1-year high of $86.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The business has a 50-day moving average of $70.68 and a 200 day moving average of $75.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $144.15 billion, a PE ratio of 20.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 28.06%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is 67.06%.

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.