Impax Asset Management Group plc Grows Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) by 15.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,562 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,156 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc's holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $2,663,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 205,297,225 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $14,717,758,000 after buying an additional 2,090,538 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $3,484,197,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in NextEra Energy by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 43,778,016 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,129,132,000 after purchasing an additional 1,359,268 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in NextEra Energy by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,090,426 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,655,353,000 after purchasing an additional 2,030,331 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,921,721 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $926,358,000 after purchasing an additional 1,707,933 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.72% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on NextEra Energy from $102.00 to $97.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $73.00 to $65.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Erste Group Bank lowered NextEra Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $89.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $84.55.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NEE traded up $0.82 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $74.70. 11,355,582 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,061,483. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $61.72 and a 52-week high of $86.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.15. The company has a market cap of $153.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.98, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.67.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99. The company had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.58 billion. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 21.81%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. NextEra Energy's payout ratio is 85.02%.

Insider Activity

In other NextEra Energy news, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 23,684 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The shares were 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 directly owned 196,817 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,777,190. The trade was a 10.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

NextEra Energy Company 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.