42,785 Shares in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) Acquired by Sapient Capital LLC

Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 42,785 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,599,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of NEE. United Bank raised its holdings in NextEra Energy by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 9,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $844,000 after acquiring an additional 891 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in NextEra Energy by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 32,180 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,726,000 after acquiring an additional 2,700 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in NextEra Energy by 11.2% in the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 15,731 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,333,000 after acquiring an additional 1,587 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in NextEra Energy by 59.1% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 878 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ergoteles LLC acquired a new position in NextEra Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $793,000. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NEE. Mizuho reissued a “buy” rating and set a $67.00 price objective (up from $65.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Barclays began coverage on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Wednesday. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $66.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $76.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NextEra Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.00.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE:NEE traded up $0.12 on Friday, reaching $64.06. The stock had a trading volume of 1,071,443 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,719,283. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The company has a 50-day moving average of $59.09 and a 200 day moving average of $58.37. The stock has a market cap of $131.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.51. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $47.15 and a 12-month high of $79.78.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.72 billion. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 26.00% and a return on equity of 11.73%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.515 per share. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 26th. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 57.06%.

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.