Arizona State Retirement System Increases Stock Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 595,259 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,175 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $42,674,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NEE. Burkett Financial Services LLC increased its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 1,229.6% in the fourth quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 359 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the period. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in NextEra Energy during the third quarter valued at $33,000. Luken Investment Analytics LLC purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NEE opened at $70.85 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.47. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $54.95 and a 1 year high of $86.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $145.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s fifty day moving average is $70.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.20.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 28.06% and a return on equity of 11.85%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,867,504.43. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on NEE. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $99.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.85.

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.