BankPlus Trust Department Purchases New Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 26,295 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,885,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of NEE. Burkett Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 1,229.6% during the fourth quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 359 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the third quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC purchased a new position in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:NEE opened at $71.74 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $147.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50 day moving average of $70.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.55. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $53.95 and a 52-week high of $86.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a 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 report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $99.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.85.

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.