Alberta Investment Management Corp Increases Stock Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Key Points

• Alberta Investment Management Corp significantly increased its holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. by 293.5% in the first quarter, now owning 179,812 shares valued at approximately $12.7 million.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5665 per share, translating to an annual yield of 3.2%, with the ex-dividend date set for August 28th.
• NextEra Energy reported a net margin of 22.84% and earnings per share of $1.05, exceeding analysts' expectations for the most recent quarter.

Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) by 293.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 179,812 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 134,112 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp's holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $12,747,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Two Sigma Advisers LP acquired a new position in NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter worth $240,269,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 8,456.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,458,536 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $174,286,000 after buying an additional 2,429,804 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,090,426 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,655,353,000 after buying an additional 2,030,331 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $124,106,000. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. boosted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 361.4% during the 4th quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 2,188,967 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $151,547,000 after acquiring an additional 1,714,575 shares during the period. 78.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NextEra Energy news, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 23,684 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $1,657,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 196,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,777,190. The trade was a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Treasurer James Michael May sold 2,177 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.50, for a total value of $168,717.50. Following the completion of the sale, the treasurer directly owned 27,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,143,805. The trade was a 7.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,361 shares of company stock valued at $2,365,398 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

NextEra Energy Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE:NEE opened at $70.41 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market cap of $144.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.63. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $61.72 and a 1 year high of $86.10.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.04. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 22.84% and a return on equity of 12.31%. The company had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.96 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 28th. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on NEE. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on NextEra Energy from $102.00 to $97.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. HSBC dropped their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 11th. Erste Group Bank lowered NextEra Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on NextEra Energy from $86.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, NextEra Energy presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $84.42.

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.

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