Vista Investment Partners II LLC Purchases Shares of 3,478 NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Vista Investment Partners II LLC acquired a new position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 3,478 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $249,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 45,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,267,000 after purchasing an additional 5,831 shares in the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,823,327 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $130,714,000 after buying an additional 41,328 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $634,703,000 after buying an additional 1,525,436 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 6,098,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $515,481,000 after acquiring an additional 21,400 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its holdings in NextEra Energy by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 445,870 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,964,000 after acquiring an additional 27,340 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NextEra Energy Trading Up 4.1 %

Shares of NEE stock opened at $72.86 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $70.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.03. The firm has a market cap of $149.88 billion, a PE ratio of 21.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $56.31 and a 1-year high of $86.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.38.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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%. On average, analysts predict 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 will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.5665 dividend. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This is a boost from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on NEE shares. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on NextEra Energy from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.85.

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 that occurred on 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 owns 27,427 shares in the company, valued at $1,867,504.43. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate 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.