Life Planning Partners Inc Invests $5.65 Million in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 78,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,653,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 1.8% in 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 during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 37.4% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 46,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,943,000 after purchasing an additional 12,689 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy during the third quarter worth about $477,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in NextEra Energy by 1.0% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 30,417 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,571,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the period. Finally, Isthmus Partners LLC purchased a new position in NextEra Energy in the third quarter valued at about $579,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 shares were sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total value of $162,258.47. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,867,504.43. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NEE. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. Eight 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 company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.92.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 0.6 %

NEE opened at $70.44 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $144.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $61.31 and a 12 month high of $86.10. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $70.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.14.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. 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.