Covington Investment Advisors Inc. Has $4.11 Million Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Covington Investment Advisors Inc. decreased its position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,269 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 936 shares during the quarter. Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $4,106,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC grew its position in NextEra Energy by 1,229.6% during the 4th quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 359 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in NextEra Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Luken Investment Analytics LLC bought a new stake in NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter worth $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 owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on NEE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $89.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at NextEra Energy

In related news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were 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 represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:NEE opened at $70.08 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $144.15 billion, a PE ratio of 20.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.27. 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 twelve month low of $61.31 and a twelve month high of $86.10.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.5665 dividend. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.23%. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.06%.

NextEra Energy 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.