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

LifePlan Financial LLC bought a new stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,068 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $308,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Flputnam Investment Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 445,631 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,068,000 after purchasing an additional 6,721 shares during the period. Capital Analysts LLC grew its holdings in NextEra Energy by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 32,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,968,000 after acquiring an additional 816 shares during the period. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors grew its holdings in NextEra Energy by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 16,832 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,022,000 after acquiring an additional 451 shares during the period. Finally, Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter worth $222,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NEE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays initiated coverage on NextEra Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $66.00 price objective on the stock. Guggenheim boosted their target price on NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded NextEra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 19th. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $67.00 target price (up from $65.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, NextEra Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.00.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NEE traded down $0.33 on Monday, hitting $62.75. The company had a trading volume of 11,107,317 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,825,647. The business has a 50 day moving average of $59.19 and a 200 day moving average of $58.28. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $47.15 and a 52-week high of $79.78. The company has a market cap of $128.79 billion, a PE ratio of 17.48, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.03. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.73% and a net margin of 26.00%. The firm had revenue of $6.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.515 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 26th. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 57.06%.

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.