Gradient Investments LLC Has $29.78 Million Stock Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Gradient Investments LLC lifted its stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) by 15.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 465,942 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 61,053 shares during the quarter. Gradient Investments LLC's holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $29,778,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 387.2% in the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 458 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 364 shares during the period. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp increased its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 59.8% in the 3rd 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 period. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. lifted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 315.4% in the fourth quarter. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. StockNews.com upgraded NextEra Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $66.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $71.50.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NEE traded up $1.29 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $70.14. 12,687,503 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,442,457. The stock has a market capitalization of $144.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.11, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.50. The company's 50-day moving average price is $62.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.43. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $47.15 and a 1-year high of $78.53.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $5.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.28 billion. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 27.62%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were given a $0.515 dividend. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 26th. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.13%.

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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