Prudential Financial Inc. Acquires 592,749 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 41.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,037,807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 592,749 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $146,090,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in NextEra Energy by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 45,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,267,000 after purchasing an additional 5,831 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,823,327 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $130,714,000 after buying an additional 41,328 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,833,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $634,703,000 after buying an additional 1,525,436 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 445,870 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,964,000 after acquiring an additional 27,340 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 171,735 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,312,000 after acquiring an additional 9,425 shares during the period. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at NextEra Energy

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.92.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

NEE opened at $70.92 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $70.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $145.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.04, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $61.30 and a 12-month high of $86.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20.

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 analysts predict 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 was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.5665 dividend. This is a positive change 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 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.