Viking Fund Management LLC Buys 200,000 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Viking Fund Management LLC boosted its position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) by 67.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 495,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 200,000 shares during the period. NextEra Energy accounts for 5.1% of Viking Fund Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Viking Fund Management LLC's holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $35,091,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC boosted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 4,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 28,282 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,028,000 after buying an additional 1,840 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,854 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $348,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the period. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in NextEra Energy by 24.0% during the fourth quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 53,090 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,806,000 after buying an additional 10,275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McAdam LLC increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 4,952 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $355,000 after acquiring an additional 663 shares during the period. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NextEra Energy news, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 23,684 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $1,657,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 196,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,777,190. This represents a 10.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on NEE shares. Erste Group Bank cut NextEra Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target 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. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $89.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $83.50.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NEE traded up $1.54 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $71.42. 10,939,898 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,105,648. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.19, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.69. The business has a 50-day moving average of $68.41 and a 200 day moving average of $70.71. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $61.72 and a one year high of $86.10.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.99. The firm had revenue of $6.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.58 billion. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 28.06%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a $0.5665 dividend. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio is 84.64%.

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.