Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI Makes New Investment in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 403,864 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $34,139,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd grew its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.2% during the third quarter. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd now owns 1,216,077 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $102,495,000 after buying an additional 26,270 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 0.4% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 6,098,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $515,481,000 after purchasing an additional 21,400 shares during the last quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. grew its position in NextEra Energy by 16.0% in the third quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 59,320 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,042,000 after purchasing an additional 8,184 shares in the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 1,224.3% in the 2nd quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 72,453 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,130,000 after buying an additional 66,982 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 57.0% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 5,957,220 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $421,831,000 after buying an additional 2,163,437 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut NextEra Energy from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America raised their price target on NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays raised their price target 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. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. 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.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.85.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NEE stock opened at $75.24 on Friday. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.95 and a 52 week high of $86.10. The company has a market capitalization of $154.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.26, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $77.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.41.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $7.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.11 billion. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.94% and a net margin of 26.49%. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.94 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.41 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a $0.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is presently 60.95%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Nicole J. Daggs sold 4,007 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.57, for a total value of $302,808.99. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,193,401.44. The trade was a 20.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About NextEra Energy

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.