Norges Bank Acquires New Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Norges Bank acquired a new position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 48,600,878 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,484,197,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Burkett Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in NextEra Energy by 1,229.6% during the 4th quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 359 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the period. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in NextEra Energy during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Luken Investment Analytics LLC purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Trading Up 1.6 %

NextEra Energy stock opened at $69.66 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $143.28 billion, a PE ratio of 20.67, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.47. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $61.31 and a 52 week high of $86.10.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.5665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This is a boost from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total transaction of $162,258.47. Following the completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on NEE shares. Evercore ISI lowered 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 raised their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price 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. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.92.

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.