NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE Stock Purchased by PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators

PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators boosted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 6.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 163,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,471 shares during the period. PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators’ holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $12,363,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NEE. Three Bridge Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in NextEra Energy in the third quarter worth $103,000. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 13.1% in the third quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 127,632 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,667,000 after buying an additional 14,817 shares in the last quarter. NBH Bank increased its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.0% in the third quarter. NBH Bank now owns 13,366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,012,000 after buying an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Silver Grove Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 6.1% in the third quarter. Silver Grove Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,240 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $170,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 29.8% in the third quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 50,803 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,848,000 after buying an additional 11,662 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Monday, July 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of NextEra Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Seaport Research Partners reissued a “sell” rating and set a $56.00 price target (up from $55.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. BMO Capital Markets set a $88.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of NextEra Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.80.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NEE stock opened at $85.30 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $80.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $74.41 and a 12 month high of $98.75.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The utilities provider reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $8.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.47 billion. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 40.37% and a return on equity of 12.27%. The company’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. Research analysts expect that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.6232 per share. This represents a $2.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 27th. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is 44.86%.

NextEra Energy News Summary

Investors following NEE have been watching these news items:

• Positive Sentiment: NextEra shareholders approved the Dominion transaction, clearing an important step toward a merger. The deal still faces further steps before completion. Article: NextEra Energy Shareholders Approve the Dominion Deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Florida Power & Light, a NextEra subsidiary, doubled funding for its energy-saving program to $30 million. The initiative includes a $200 bill credit for eligible customers; its direct financial impact on NextEra was not specified. Article: FPL Doubles Saving Steps Funding
• 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.