Senator Investment Group LP Purchases 19,629 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Senator Investment Group LP increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 444,629 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,629 shares during the quarter. Senator Investment Group LP’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $31,875,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NEE. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 45,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,267,000 after acquiring an additional 5,831 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in NextEra Energy by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,823,327 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $130,714,000 after purchasing an additional 41,328 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,833,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $634,703,000 after purchasing an additional 1,525,436 shares during the period. Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 445,870 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,964,000 after purchasing an additional 27,340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 171,735 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,312,000 after purchasing an additional 9,425 shares during the period. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total value of $162,258.47. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,867,504.43. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:NEE opened at $66.29 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization 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. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $61.72 and a 52-week high of $86.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.47. The company has a fifty day moving average of $69.63 and a 200-day moving average of $73.14.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 28.06%. On average, equities analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NEE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI cut their price target on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $89.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective 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 dropped their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $97.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.15.

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.