Strs Ohio Decreases Stock Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Strs Ohio cut its holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,262,862 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 52,242 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $76,706,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NEE. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $2,774,845,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 66,613.3% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,263,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,530,055,000 after buying an additional 30,218,452 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $141,817,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 59.1% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,784,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $337,096,000 after buying an additional 2,148,205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 7,999.6% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,173,459 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $132,016,000 after purchasing an additional 2,146,625 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $74.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of NextEra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Mizuho restated a “buy” rating and issued a $67.00 target price (up from $65.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Wednesday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $66.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.00.

NextEra Energy Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NEE stock traded down $0.86 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $63.08. 9,039,494 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,494,934. The firm has a market cap of $129.47 billion, a PE ratio of 17.47, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.51. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $47.15 and a 1 year high of $79.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $59.19 and a 200 day moving average of $58.29.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.72 billion. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 26.00% and a return on equity of 11.73%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.51 EPS. Analysts expect that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 26th. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 57.06%.

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.