Norges Bank Makes New Investment in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 48,600,878 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,484,197,000. Norges Bank owned 2.36% of NextEra Energy as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NEE. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.8% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 299,215 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,293,000 after acquiring an additional 5,409 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $183,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 2,482.6% during the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 7.8% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 2,756 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $233,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. Finally, Baldwin Investment Management LLC raised its stake in NextEra Energy by 0.9% in the third quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC now owns 35,357 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,989,000 after buying an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other NextEra Energy news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,867,504.43. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on NEE. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank upped their price target 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. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $89.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $85.92.

NextEra Energy Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NEE opened at $69.66 on Thursday. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $61.31 and a 1 year high of $86.10. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market cap of $143.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58.

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

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.5665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is 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.