Essex Investment Management Co. LLC Boosts Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Essex Investment Management Co. LLC raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) by 26.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 94,369 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 19,614 shares during the period. NextEra Energy comprises 1.1% of Essex Investment Management Co. LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC's holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $5,732,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 198,430,172 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $11,368,065,000 after buying an additional 1,956,153 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,982,250 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,316,653,000 after purchasing an additional 455,271 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,782,674 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $654,940,000 after purchasing an additional 429,979 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.4% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,026,464 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $517,126,000 after purchasing an additional 209,584 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,905,784 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $358,717,000 after buying an additional 449,387 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NextEra Energy Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:NEE traded down $0.79 on Friday, hitting $73.79. 12,046,747 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,264,612. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $63.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.50. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $47.15 and a 12 month high of $78.53.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $5.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.28 billion. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.84 EPS. Analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 27th were paid a $0.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 26th. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio is 56.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on NEE shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of NextEra Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $74.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on NextEra Energy from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $71.93.

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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