NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) is ClearBridge Investments Ltd’s 2nd Largest Position

ClearBridge Investments Ltd grew its position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 19.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,452,303 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 713,755 shares during the quarter. NextEra Energy comprises about 8.4% of ClearBridge Investments Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. ClearBridge Investments Ltd owned 0.22% of NextEra Energy worth $319,186,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in NextEra Energy by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,626,486 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $468,227,000 after purchasing an additional 459,596 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 46.7% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 7,910,346 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $567,093,000 after acquiring an additional 2,517,369 shares during the period. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $5,653,000. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter worth $83,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 44.9% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 8,064,781 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $578,164,000 after purchasing an additional 2,499,011 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on NEE shares. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $89.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.92.

Insider Transactions at NextEra Energy

In related news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NEE stock opened at $70.44 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The company has a market cap of $144.90 billion, a PE ratio of 20.90, a PEG 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.14.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 28.06%. Analysts expect that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.5665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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%.

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.