Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Purchases Shares of 11,042 NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 11,042 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $792,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NEE. Burkett Financial Services LLC lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 1,229.6% in the fourth quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 359 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the company’s 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 approximately $1,867,504.43. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NextEra Energy stock opened at $70.44 on Friday. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.31 and a twelve month high of $86.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The company has a market capitalization of $144.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.90, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $70.67 and its 200 day moving average is $75.19.

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

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is 67.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NEE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. 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 note on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of 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 issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.92.

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.