Madison Investment Advisors LLC Buys New Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 702,937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $50,394,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its position in NextEra Energy by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 299,215 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,293,000 after acquiring an additional 5,409 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.1% during the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 17,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,465,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $406,000. Verus Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in NextEra Energy during the third quarter valued at $232,000. Finally, Dillon & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 16.0% in the third quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 59,320 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,042,000 after acquiring an additional 8,184 shares during the period. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NEE stock opened at $73.03 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $70.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.47. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $58.88 and a one year high of $86.10. The firm has a market cap of $150.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 28.06% and a return on equity of 11.85%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NEE. Evercore ISI lowered 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. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the firm’s 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 $1,867,504.43. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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.