NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE Shares Purchased by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 127,632 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,817 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $9,667,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,465,987,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 5.8% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 16,302,084 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,430,834,000 after acquiring an additional 895,824 shares during the period. Amundi increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 46.5% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 13,329,077 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,169,839,000 after acquiring an additional 4,231,814 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 8.5% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 10,187,013 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $946,169,000 after acquiring an additional 799,546 shares during the period. Finally, GQG Partners LLC acquired a new position in NextEra Energy in the second quarter worth about $651,293,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NEE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $110.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. HSBC set a $103.00 price objective on NextEra Energy in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Seaport Research Partners reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $56.00 price objective (up from $55.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. BMO Capital Markets set a $88.00 target price on NextEra Energy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.80.

NextEra Energy Stock Down 0.8%

NEE opened at $85.30 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $80.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.53. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $74.41 and a twelve month high of $98.75. The firm has a market cap of $178.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.37, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.60.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The utilities provider reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.04. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 40.37% and a return on equity of 12.27%. The firm had revenue of $8.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.47 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.6232 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 27th. This represents a $2.49 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.86%.

Key Headlines Impacting NextEra Energy

Investors following NEE have been watching these headlines:

• Positive Sentiment: The State Street Utilities SPDR (XLU) reportedly increased its NextEra holdings by $76 million, a sign of added institutional demand. Article: State Street Utilities SPDR Buys More NextEra
• Positive Sentiment: CIBC included NEE among its stock picks following the Democratic election sweep, ranking it eighth on its list. Article: CIBC Stock Picks
• Negative Sentiment: Reports highlight a potential $4.83 billion merger-fee issue and pressure in Virginia. The scale of the fee and regulatory uncertainty could raise the cost of a failed or delayed transaction and keep deal risk in focus. Article: Merger Fee Test Article: Virginia Merger Pressure

NextEra Energy Company Profile

NextEra Energy, Inc. is an energy company whose businesses include Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), a regulated electric utility, and NextEra Energy Resources, a developer and operator of energy infrastructure. FPL generates, transmits and distributes electricity to customers across Florida. NextEra Energy Resources develops and operates projects in North America, including wind and solar generation, battery storage, and natural gas and nuclear facilities. The company also invests in transmission infrastructure and provides energy-related services.