Sovereign Financial Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Sovereign Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 346 shares during the quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $535,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Greenfield Savings Bank increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Greenfield Savings Bank now owns 32,220 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,957,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 22.7% during the fourth quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 930 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. MKT Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. MKT Advisors LLC now owns 6,233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $387,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 3.9% during the third quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 4,701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $269,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Finally, First Pacific Financial increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 8,885 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $540,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NEE traded up $0.70 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $71.95. 13,416,327 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,931,911. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $62.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.82 billion, a PE ratio of 19.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.50. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $47.15 and a 12 month high of $78.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $5.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.28 billion. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on NEE shares. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on NextEra Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Barclays assumed coverage on NextEra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $66.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on NextEra Energy from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on NextEra Energy from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.