Scotia Capital Inc. Acquires 39,713 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Scotia Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 18.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 255,724 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 39,713 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $18,338,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,484,197,000. Boston Partners bought a new stake in NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter worth $244,169,000. Amundi raised its position in NextEra Energy by 49.8% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 9,543,552 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $676,008,000 after buying an additional 3,172,405 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in NextEra Energy by 46.7% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 7,910,346 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $567,093,000 after acquiring an additional 2,517,369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 44.9% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 8,064,781 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $578,164,000 after acquiring an additional 2,499,011 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NEE opened at $66.75 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $137.41 billion, a PE ratio of 19.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $69.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.98. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.31 and a twelve month high of $86.10.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 28.06% and a return on equity of 11.85%. Equities analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This is a boost from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 67.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on NEE shares. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total value of $162,258.47. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,867,504.43. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.