Herold Advisors Inc. Increases Stock Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Herold Advisors Inc. increased its position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,578 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the quarter. Herold Advisors Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $1,371,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 198,430,172 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,368,065,000 after purchasing an additional 1,956,153 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.0% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,982,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,316,653,000 after purchasing an additional 455,271 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in NextEra Energy by 1.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,352,695 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $593,106,000 after acquiring an additional 148,674 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in NextEra Energy by 2.4% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,026,464 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $517,126,000 after acquiring an additional 209,584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in NextEra Energy by 59.1% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,784,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $337,096,000 after acquiring an additional 2,148,205 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NextEra Energy Stock Down 1.3 %

NEE stock opened at $66.01 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $47.15 and a fifty-two week high of $78.53. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.06. The stock has a market cap of $135.62 billion, a PE ratio of 17.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.51.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.11. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The business had revenue of $5.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.84 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 27th were issued a $0.515 dividend. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 26th. This is a boost from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on NEE shares. StockNews.com raised shares of NextEra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Barclays started coverage on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $66.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $74.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.50.

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.