Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Raises Stock Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 10.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 729,539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 69,718 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $44,312,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Avitas Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 37,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,299,000 after buying an additional 1,057 shares during the period. Stiles Financial Services Inc increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 35,180 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,137,000 after buying an additional 2,899 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 383,932 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $21,995,000 after buying an additional 6,325 shares during the period. Asio Capital LLC purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter worth $2,701,000. Finally, Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in NextEra Energy by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,015,000 after acquiring an additional 1,211 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on NEE. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. 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 raised their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $74.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $66.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.36.

NextEra Energy Trading Down 1.7 %

NextEra Energy stock opened at $61.70 on Wednesday. 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 50-day moving average price of $59.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.09, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.51. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $47.15 and a 52-week high of $79.78.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.88 billion during 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 previous year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 26th. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is presently 57.06%.

NextEra Energy Company 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.