Sapient Capital LLC Acquires New Shares in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 42,785 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,599,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Country Trust Bank lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 975.6% during the 3rd quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 441 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 59.8% during the third quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 556 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, HBC Financial Services PLLC purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays started coverage on NextEra Energy in a report on Wednesday. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $66.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com cut NextEra Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, February 19th. Mizuho reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $67.00 price target (up previously from $65.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $74.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $72.00.

NextEra Energy Trading Down 1.4 %

NEE stock traded down $0.87 during trading on Friday, hitting $63.07. The company had a trading volume of 9,038,746 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,835,202. The firm has a market capitalization of $129.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.73, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.37. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $47.15 and a 52-week high of $79.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.03. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 26.00% and a return on equity of 11.73%. The company had revenue of $6.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.515 per share. This is a boost from NextEra Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 26th. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio is 57.06%.

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.