LifePlan Financial LLC Takes Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

LifePlan Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 5,068 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $308,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. United Bank grew its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 9,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $844,000 after acquiring an additional 891 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 32,180 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,726,000 after acquiring an additional 2,700 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 11.2% in the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 15,731 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,333,000 after acquiring an additional 1,587 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 59.1% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 878 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ergoteles LLC acquired a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the 1st quarter worth $793,000. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NextEra Energy Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:NEE traded down $0.33 on Monday, reaching $62.75. The company had a trading volume of 11,107,317 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,825,647. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $47.15 and a twelve month high of $79.78. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $59.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.72 billion. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.73% and a net margin of 26.00%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.28%. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is presently 57.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on NEE shares. Guggenheim lifted their target price on NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on NextEra Energy from $76.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. StockNews.com cut NextEra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $74.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.00.

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.