South Plains Financial Inc. Makes New Investment in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

South Plains Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,694 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $480,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NEE. Burkett Financial Services LLC increased its position in NextEra Energy by 1,229.6% in the 4th quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 359 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the period. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC bought a new stake in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company's stock.

NextEra Energy Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE NEE traded up $0.51 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $66.61. The stock had a trading volume of 3,485,759 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,763,775. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $68.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market cap of $137.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.72 and a fifty-two week high of $86.10.

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

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.5665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This is a boost from NextEra Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio is 84.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on NextEra Energy from $102.00 to $97.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $89.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $73.00 to $65.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $83.46.

Insider Activity at NextEra Energy

In other news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total transaction of $162,258.47. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,427 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,867,504.43. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

NextEra Energy Profile

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.