Choate Investment Advisors Acquires 2,210 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Choate Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,210 shares during the period. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $3,819,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NEE. Amundi raised its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 49.8% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 9,543,552 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $676,008,000 after acquiring an additional 3,172,405 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in NextEra Energy by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,833,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $634,703,000 after buying an additional 1,525,436 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in NextEra Energy by 167.7% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,186,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $184,795,000 after buying an additional 1,369,689 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in NextEra Energy by 13,375.2% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 946,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,835,000 after buying an additional 939,209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $65,657,000. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NEE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on NextEra Energy from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at NextEra Energy

In other NextEra Energy news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total transaction of $162,258.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,867,504.43. This 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 accessible through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NEE stock opened at $73.59 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $151.37 billion, a PE ratio of 21.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The business has a 50 day moving average of $70.51 and a 200-day moving average of $75.85. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $59.44 and a 12-month high of $86.10.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 28.06%. As a group, sell-side 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 dividend of $0.5665 per share. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 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.