Evanson Asset Management LLC Invests $222,000 in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Evanson Asset Management LLC bought a new position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 3,652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 383,932 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $21,995,000 after acquiring an additional 6,325 shares in the last quarter. Asio Capital LLC bought a new stake in NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,701,000. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,015,000 after purchasing an additional 1,211 shares in the last quarter. Cavalry Management Group LLC increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 15.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cavalry Management Group LLC now owns 4,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $341,000 after purchasing an additional 617 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jackson Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jackson Wealth Management LLC now owns 103,366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,922,000 after purchasing an additional 3,926 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on NEE. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Friday, December 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $69.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of NextEra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $74.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.46.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NextEra Energy stock traded up $0.12 on Thursday, hitting $63.91. 12,730,007 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,073,567. The stock has a market capitalization of $131.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.55. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $47.15 and a 52 week high of $79.78. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.62.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.72 billion. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 26.00% and a return on equity of 11.73%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. Research analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.515 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 26th. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. This is a boost from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.06%.

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.