Groupama Asset Managment Raises Stock Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Groupama Asset Managment raised its holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 312.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,941,778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,470,613 shares during the quarter. NextEra Energy accounts for approximately 1.0% of Groupama Asset Managment’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Groupama Asset Managment’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $139,206,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 1.8% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 299,215 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,293,000 after acquiring an additional 5,409 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $477,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy during the third quarter worth $690,000. Atom Investors LP acquired a new stake in NextEra Energy during the third quarter valued at $538,000. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in NextEra Energy by 412.6% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 284,464 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,047,000 after buying an additional 228,973 shares during the period. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,427 shares in the company, valued at $1,867,504.43. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on NEE shares. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $89.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price 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, Scotiabank increased their target price on NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.92.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NEE opened at $70.92 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.99. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $145.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $61.31 and a 52 week high of $86.10.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 28.06% and a return on equity of 11.85%. On average, equities analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.06%.

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.