NextEra Energy, Inc. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.47 (NYSE:NEE)

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE – Get Rating) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 18th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.4675 per share by the utilities provider on Thursday, June 15th. This represents a $1.87 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 26th.

NextEra Energy has increased its dividend by an average of 10.8% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 30 years. NextEra Energy has a dividend payout ratio of 55.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect NextEra Energy to earn $3.39 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.87 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 55.2%.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:NEE opened at $74.24 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. NextEra Energy has a fifty-two week low of $69.64 and a fifty-two week high of $91.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $76.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.94. The stock has a market cap of $150.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $6.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.78 billion. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 26.97% and a return on equity of 12.44%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that NextEra Energy will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NextEra Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $2,774,845,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in NextEra Energy by 66,613.3% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,263,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,530,055,000 after acquiring an additional 30,218,452 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in NextEra Energy by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 19,626,941 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,538,947,000 after acquiring an additional 315,356 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its stake in NextEra Energy by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 11,735,932 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $981,129,000 after acquiring an additional 1,259,307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in NextEra Energy by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,309,930 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $788,644,000 after acquiring an additional 282,012 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on NEE. StockNews.com began coverage on NextEra Energy in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Credit Suisse Group cut their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $89.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. Guggenheim cut their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $96.00 to $92.00 in a research note on Monday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $101.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, NextEra Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.50.

NextEra Energy Company Profile

(Get Rating)

NextEra Energy, Inc engages in the provision of renewable energy. It operates through the following segments: FPL and NEER. The FPL segment involves the generation, transmission, distribution, and sale of electric energy in Florida. The NEER segment produces electricity from clean and renewable sources, including wind and solar.