HighTower Advisors LLC Acquires 18,497 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,332,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,497 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.11% of NextEra Energy worth $167,231,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in NextEra Energy by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 42,418,748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,571,650,000 after acquiring an additional 820,704 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in NextEra Energy by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,523,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,041,210,000 after acquiring an additional 588,038 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in NextEra Energy by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,630,784 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $977,191,000 after acquiring an additional 345,999 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in NextEra Energy by 49.8% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 9,543,552 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $676,008,000 after acquiring an additional 3,172,405 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in NextEra Energy by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,833,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $634,703,000 after acquiring an additional 1,525,436 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,867,504.43. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

NextEra Energy Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE:NEE opened at $74.04 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $152.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. 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’s 50-day moving average is $70.43 and its 200-day moving average is $75.97. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $56.55 and a 1 year high of $86.10.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 28.06%. Equities research analysts predict 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 will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.5665 per share. 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 yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 67.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NEE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on NextEra Energy from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 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 company. According to MarketBeat, NextEra Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.92.

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.