Impax Asset Management Group plc Grows Stock Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 68.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,406 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,199 shares during the quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $2,323,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 45,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,267,000 after acquiring an additional 5,831 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,833,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $634,703,000 after purchasing an additional 1,525,436 shares in the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,823,327 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $130,714,000 after purchasing an additional 41,328 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 6,098,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $515,481,000 after purchasing an additional 21,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 445,870 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,964,000 after purchasing an additional 27,340 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on NEE shares. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $99.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $85.85.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NextEra Energy stock opened at $71.28 on Wednesday. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.95 and a 1 year high of $86.10. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $70.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.46. The stock has a market cap of $146.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.15, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 28.06% and a return on equity of 11.85%. As a group, research analysts expect that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.5665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is 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 yield of 3.18%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $1,867,504.43. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company 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.