NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) Position Increased by Blackstone Inc.

Blackstone Inc. raised its position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) by 75.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,313,252 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,423,730 shares during the period. NextEra Energy accounts for about 1.1% of Blackstone Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Blackstone Inc. owned approximately 0.16% of NextEra Energy worth $237,527,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,833,725 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $634,703,000 after buying an additional 1,525,436 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS boosted its stake in NextEra Energy by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS now owns 4,882 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $350,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its position in NextEra Energy by 24.0% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 21,245 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,523,000 after buying an additional 4,110 shares during the period. Burkett Financial Services LLC raised its stake in NextEra Energy by 1,229.6% during the fourth quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 359 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advance Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Advance Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,135 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $583,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on NEE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $73.00 to $65.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $102.00 to $97.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $89.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $83.46.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 1.6 %

NYSE:NEE opened at $67.08 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $69.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.04. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.72 and a twelve month high of $86.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $138.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58.

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

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.5665 dividend. This is an increase from NextEra Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.38%. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 84.64%.

Insider Transactions at NextEra Energy

In other news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total value of $162,258.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,867,504.43. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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