Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 102.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,086 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,575 shares during the quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $365,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Burkett Financial Services LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC bought a new stake in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at NextEra Energy

In other news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total value of $162,258.47. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,867,504.43. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NEE stock opened at $66.97 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $137.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.87, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $70.65 and a 200 day moving average of $74.59. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $61.31 and a 52 week 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.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 28.06% and a return on equity of 11.85%. As a group, research analysts expect that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current 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 dividend of $0.5665 per share. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.38%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 67.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $89.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research note 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.