Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Boosts Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. raised its position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 12.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,676 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $2,056,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NEE. Greenfield Savings Bank lifted its stake in NextEra Energy by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Greenfield Savings Bank now owns 32,220 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,957,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 22.7% during the 4th quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 930 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. MKT Advisors LLC grew its position in NextEra Energy by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. MKT Advisors LLC now owns 6,233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $387,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management grew its position in NextEra Energy by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 4,701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $269,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Pacific Financial increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 8,885 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $540,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $74.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of NextEra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America boosted their price target on NextEra Energy from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on NextEra Energy from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.50.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE NEE traded up $1.29 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $70.14. 12,687,503 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,442,457. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $47.15 and a 12 month high of $78.53. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $62.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The company has a market cap of $144.10 billion, a PE ratio of 19.11, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.50.

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

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.515 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 26th. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 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.