ING Groep NV Purchases 457,523 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

ING Groep NV lifted its position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 351.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 587,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 457,523 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $42,128,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc grew its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc now owns 91,910 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,589,000 after buying an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC grew its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 95,819 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,869,000 after buying an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in NextEra Energy by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 91,455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,556,000 after purchasing an additional 1,429 shares in the last quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. boosted its position in NextEra Energy by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. now owns 837,698 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,028,000 after purchasing an additional 101,698 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in NextEra Energy by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 364,294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,116,000 after purchasing an additional 15,573 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:NEE opened at $69.04 on Thursday. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $53.95 and a 52-week high of $86.10. The stock has a market cap of $141.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.49, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $70.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.64.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 28.06%. Equities analysts predict 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 will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This is a boost from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NEE. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on NextEra Energy from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $99.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, NextEra Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.85.

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.