Alberta Investment Management Corp Increases Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Alberta Investment Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 128.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 45,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,700 shares during the quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $3,276,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its position in NextEra Energy by 1.8% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 299,215 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,293,000 after purchasing an additional 5,409 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,317 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $619,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 228,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $19,290,000 after buying an additional 4,220 shares in the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 25.6% in the 3rd quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 42,815 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,619,000 after acquiring an additional 8,737 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Courier Capital LLC increased its holdings in NextEra Energy by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 27,660 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,338,000 after acquiring an additional 2,540 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 1.5 %

NEE opened at $70.12 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $144.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.58. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.95 and a 12 month 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. The business has a 50-day moving average of $70.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.59.

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

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.5665 dividend. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.13%.

Insider Activity at NextEra Energy

In other news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $1,867,504.43. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on NEE. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays upped their target price on NextEra Energy from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on NextEra Energy from $99.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.85.

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.