UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Has $22.52 Million Stock Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp boosted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 314,165 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,196 shares during the quarter. NextEra Energy accounts for approximately 1.4% of UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $22,523,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 299,215 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,293,000 after buying an additional 5,409 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $183,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 2,482.6% during the third quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 2,756 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its stake in NextEra Energy by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 33,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,852,000 after purchasing an additional 633 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at NextEra Energy

In other NextEra Energy news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total value of $162,258.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,867,504.43. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

NextEra Energy Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE NEE opened at $68.70 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $141.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.39, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $61.30 and a 12 month high of $86.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $70.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.34.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 28.06% and a return on equity of 11.85%. As a group, analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors 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 of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NEE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $89.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.92.

NextEra Energy Profile

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.