Ethic Inc. Purchases 13,782 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Ethic Inc. lifted its holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 81.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,729 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,782 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $2,203,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Luken Investment Analytics LLC bought a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on NEE shares. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered shares of NextEra Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.46.

NextEra Energy Trading Up 3.0%

Shares of NYSE NEE opened at $70.37 on Monday. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.72 and a twelve month high of $86.10. The firm has a market cap of $144.87 billion, a PE ratio of 20.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.69. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.47. 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 data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.99. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 28.06%. The firm had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect 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 paid a dividend of $0.5665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. 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 dividend yield of 3.22%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 84.64%.

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 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 in the company, valued at $1,867,504.43. This represents a 7.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.