South Plains Financial Inc. Invests $480,000 in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

South Plains Financial Inc. purchased a new position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 6,694 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $480,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NEE. Accel Wealth Management lifted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Accel Wealth Management now owns 8,615 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $618,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company now owns 15,353 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,101,000 after buying an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. 1ST Source Bank increased its holdings in NextEra Energy by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 34,178 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,889,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the period. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,943 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $139,000 after buying an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC now owns 11,666 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $836,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company's stock.

NextEra Energy Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NextEra Energy stock traded up $1.03 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $67.08. The company had a trading volume of 13,333,016 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,806,660. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $69.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.12. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.72 and a fifty-two week high of $86.10. The firm has a market cap of $138.09 billion, a PE ratio of 19.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.38.

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

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at NextEra Energy

In related news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $1,867,504.43. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NEE. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $73.00 to $65.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of NextEra Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $83.46.

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.