Sandy Spring Bank Buys 6,245 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Sandy Spring Bank raised its stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 193,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,245 shares during the quarter. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $13,860,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NEE. Burkett Financial Services LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Luken Investment Analytics LLC bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on NEE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective 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. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, NextEra Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.92.

NextEra Energy Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NEE stock opened at $70.47 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $144.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.91, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $70.54 and a 200-day moving average of $75.66. 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 1-year low of $61.29 and a 1-year high of $86.10.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.5665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. This is a boost from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.06%.

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.