Northern Trust Corp Grows Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 9.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 23,090,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,030,331 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $1,655,353,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NEE. Burkett Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in NextEra Energy by 1,229.6% in the fourth quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 359 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC purchased a new position in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC purchased a new position in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $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 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,867,504.43. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NEE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of NextEra Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $102.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.08.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NEE opened at $66.10 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $69.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $136.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.61, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $61.72 and a one 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.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99. The firm had revenue of $6.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.58 billion. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 28.06% and a return on equity of 11.85%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.5665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.43%. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 84.64%.

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.