Quantbot Technologies LP Increases Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Quantbot Technologies LP raised its stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 45.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 121,639 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,016 shares during the quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $8,720,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NEE. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 42,418,748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,571,650,000 after buying an additional 820,704 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,523,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,041,210,000 after purchasing an additional 588,038 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,630,784 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $977,191,000 after purchasing an additional 345,999 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in NextEra Energy by 49.8% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 9,543,552 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $676,008,000 after purchasing an additional 3,172,405 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,833,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $634,703,000 after buying an additional 1,525,436 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NextEra Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.92.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NEE opened at $70.92 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $145.87 billion, a PE ratio of 21.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.30 and a fifty-two week high of $86.10. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.56. 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 issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is 67.06%.

Insider Transactions at NextEra Energy

In other NextEra Energy news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total transaction of $162,258.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,867,504.43. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.