Freestone Grove Partners LP Acquires New Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 12,524 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $898,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NEE. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in NextEra Energy by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 45,566 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,267,000 after purchasing an additional 5,831 shares during the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its position in NextEra Energy by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,823,327 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $130,714,000 after acquiring an additional 41,328 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,833,725 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $634,703,000 after purchasing an additional 1,525,436 shares during the period. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 445,870 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,964,000 after buying an additional 27,340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 171,735 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $12,312,000 after acquiring an additional 9,425 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NEE traded up $0.47 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $66.57. The company had a trading volume of 7,940,764 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,767,507. 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 business's 50-day simple moving average is $68.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.91. The stock has a market cap of $137.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.69. 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 issued its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.58 billion. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 28.06% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The firm's revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.5665 dividend. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.64%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total value of $162,258.47. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,427 shares in the company, valued at $1,867,504.43. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on NEE. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective 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. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $89.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of NextEra Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $83.46.

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.