PGGM Investments Raises Stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

PGGM Investments lifted its position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 31.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 578,550 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 137,728 shares during the quarter. PGGM Investments’ holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $35,141,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NEE. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC acquired a new position in NextEra Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $141,817,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 59.1% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,784,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $337,096,000 after acquiring an additional 2,148,205 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 7,999.6% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,173,459 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $132,016,000 after acquiring an additional 2,146,625 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 198,430,172 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,368,065,000 after acquiring an additional 1,956,153 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $94,883,000. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NEE. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $74.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Barclays began coverage on NextEra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $66.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised NextEra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.50.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NEE traded down $0.91 during trading on Friday, reaching $65.99. 9,982,762 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,921,297. The stock has a market cap of $135.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.99, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $60.85 and a 200 day moving average of $59.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $47.15 and a 52 week high of $78.53.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.11. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 27.62%. The firm had revenue of $5.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.84 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were paid a $0.515 dividend. This is a boost from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 26th. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.12%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.13%.

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.