Candriam S.C.A. Acquires 126,488 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Candriam S.C.A. increased its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 17.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 865,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 126,488 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $62,079,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in NextEra Energy by 1,229.6% in the fourth quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 359 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in NextEra Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Luken Investment Analytics LLC acquired a new stake in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on NEE. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.85.

NextEra Energy Stock Down 0.5 %

NEE opened at $70.51 on Thursday. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.26 and a fifty-two week high of $86.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.47. The company has a fifty day moving average of $70.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $145.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.92, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58.

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

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.5665 dividend. This is a boost from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is presently 67.06%.

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.