NextEra Energy, Inc. (NEE) To Go Ex-Dividend on February 28th

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 14th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of 0.5665 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52.

NextEra Energy has increased its dividend payment by an average of 10.2% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 31 consecutive years. NextEra Energy has a payout ratio of 56.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect NextEra Energy to earn $3.96 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.27 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 57.3%.

NextEra Energy Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE NEE opened at $71.28 on Wednesday. NextEra Energy has a 1 year low of $53.95 and a 1 year high of $86.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The company has a market capitalization of $146.62 billion, a PE ratio of 21.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a fifty day moving average of $70.46 and a 200 day moving average of $76.46.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 28.06%. Research analysts forecast that NextEra Energy will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on NEE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $99.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank raised their target price 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, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Eight equities 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 company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at NextEra Energy

In other NextEra Energy news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 27,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,867,504.43. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

NextEra Energy Company 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.