NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) is ClearBridge Investments Ltd’s 2nd Largest Position

ClearBridge Investments Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 19.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,452,303 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 713,755 shares during the period. NextEra Energy makes up approximately 8.4% of ClearBridge Investments Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. ClearBridge Investments Ltd’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $319,186,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NEE. Burkett Financial Services LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the third quarter worth about $33,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC purchased a new position in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NextEra Energy news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,427 shares in the company, valued at $1,867,504.43. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 0.6 %

NEE stock opened at $70.44 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $144.90 billion, a PE ratio of 20.90, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $61.31 and a one year high of $86.10. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $70.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.14.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, meeting 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 anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued 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 3.22%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on NEE shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.