Essex Investment Management Co. LLC Has $8.47 Million Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Essex Investment Management Co. LLC grew its position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 118,191 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,090 shares during the period. NextEra Energy makes up approximately 1.5% of Essex Investment Management Co. LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $8,473,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NEE. Burkett Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 1,229.6% in the 4th quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 359 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the period. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Luken Investment Analytics LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 2,482.6% in the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 571 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on NEE shares. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of 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 increased their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $99.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, NextEra Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.85.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 4.1 %

Shares of NYSE:NEE opened at $72.86 on Friday. 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 market cap of $149.88 billion, a PE ratio of 21.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $56.31 and a 52 week high of $86.10. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.05.

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

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.5665 dividend. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NextEra Energy

In other NextEra Energy news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total value of $162,258.47. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,867,504.43. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a 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 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.