First National Bank of Omaha Buys New Stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE

First National Bank of Omaha purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 178,350 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $13,464,000. NextEra Energy makes up about 0.8% of First National Bank of Omaha’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 213,799,521 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,139,726,000 after purchasing an additional 922,500 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in NextEra Energy by 1.2% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 45,724,229 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,161,774,000 after purchasing an additional 526,996 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in NextEra Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,375,545,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.1% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,786,728 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,165,896,000 after buying an additional 340,315 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 16,414,103 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,139,467,000 after buying an additional 408,198 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at NextEra Energy

In related news, CEO John W. Ketchum sold 99,603 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.34, for a total transaction of $8,898,532.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 305,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,332,054.22. This trade represents a 24.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ronald R. Reagan sold 18,620 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $1,675,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 9,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $867,870. This trade represents a 65.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 159,049 shares of company stock worth $14,194,542 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

NEE stock opened at $92.62 on Wednesday. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $61.72 and a 52-week high of $95.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market cap of $192.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a fifty day moving average of $84.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $80.57.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $6.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.07 billion. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 12.18% and a net margin of 24.93%.The company’s revenue was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. As a group, research 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 will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.6232 per share. This represents a $2.49 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. This is a boost from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is 69.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NEE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. BMO Capital Markets set a $95.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $104.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners decreased their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.95.

NextEra Energy Company Profile

NextEra Energy, Inc (NYSE: NEE), headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida, is a leading clean energy company with both regulated utility operations and competitive renewable generation businesses. The company’s principal operating subsidiaries include Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), a regulated electric utility serving customers in Florida, and NextEra Energy Resources, which develops, constructs, owns and operates a large portfolio of wind, solar and energy storage projects. Together these businesses provide electricity supply, transmission and distribution services as well as utility-scale renewable generation and related services.

NextEra’s activities cover the full lifecycle of power assets, from project development and construction to operation, maintenance and asset optimization.