NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) Declares Dividend Increase – $0.57 Per Share

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 14th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of 0.5665 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. 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 has raised its dividend payment by an average of 10.2% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 31 consecutive years. NextEra Energy has a payout ratio of 56.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect NextEra Energy to earn $3.96 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.27 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 57.3%.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:NEE opened at $71.28 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $70.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.46. NextEra Energy has a 12-month low of $53.95 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. The company has a market capitalization of $146.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.15, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 28.06% and a return on equity of 11.85%. Sell-side analysts expect that NextEra Energy will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on NEE shares. Scotiabank raised their price target on NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on 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 research note on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $85.85.

Insider Transactions at NextEra Energy

In other NextEra Energy news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.