Sovereign Financial Group Inc. Grows Stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Sovereign Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 346 shares during the period. Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $535,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp increased its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 59.8% in the third quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 315.4% in the fourth quarter. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NextEra Energy Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE NEE traded up $0.70 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $71.95. The stock had a trading volume of 13,416,327 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,931,911. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market cap of $147.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.50. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $62.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.94. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $47.15 and a 52-week high of $78.53.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $5.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.28 billion. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 27.62%. NextEra Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.84 earnings per share. Analysts expect that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 27th were issued a $0.515 dividend. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 26th. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is presently 56.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NEE. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on NextEra Energy from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded NextEra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Scotiabank lifted their price target on NextEra Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $74.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.93.

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.