Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. Boosts Stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. increased its position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,836 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $920,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 35.9% during the fourth quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 881,562 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $63,199,000 after buying an additional 232,661 shares during the period. Capital International Inc. CA lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Inc. CA now owns 67,927 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,870,000 after acquiring an additional 7,935 shares during the period. Dnca Finance boosted its stake in NextEra Energy by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. Dnca Finance now owns 158,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,363,000 after acquiring an additional 28,500 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in NextEra Energy by 355.6% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,049,949 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $75,271,000 after purchasing an additional 819,518 shares during the period. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP grew its holdings in NextEra Energy by 46.6% in the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 9,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $714,000 after purchasing an additional 3,164 shares during the period. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at NextEra Energy

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NEE. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI reduced 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. upped their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $97.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.15.

NextEra Energy Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:NEE opened at $66.29 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.30. The company has a market cap of $136.47 billion, a PE ratio of 19.67, a price-to-earnings-growth 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $61.72 and a 12 month high of $86.10.

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

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued 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 was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.06%.

NextEra Energy Company 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.