ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Grows Stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 22,874 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $1,389,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of NEE. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in NextEra Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. GeoWealth Management LLC lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 124.1% in the 1st quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 549 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp increased its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 59.8% in the 3rd quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NEE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $74.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays started coverage on NextEra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $66.00 price objective on the stock. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Mizuho reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $67.00 price objective (up previously from $65.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.36.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NEE traded up $0.29 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $64.30. 13,419,416 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,694,062. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $59.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.51. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $47.15 and a 12-month high of $79.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $131.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.51.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.03. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.73% and a net margin of 26.00%. The company had revenue of $6.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.51 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. This is a boost from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 26th. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is presently 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.