Investors Purchase High Volume of NextEra Energy Call Options (NYSE:NEE)

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 217,413 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 941% compared to the average daily volume of 20,894 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on NEE shares. BMO Capital Markets set a $95.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $96.00 price target (up from $84.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Erste Group Bank upgraded NextEra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on NextEra Energy from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NextEra Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NextEra Energy news, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 30,000 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $2,700,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 167,481 shares in the company, valued at $15,073,290. The trade was a 15.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO John W. Ketchum sold 99,603 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.34, for a total value of $8,898,532.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 305,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,332,054.22. This trade represents a 24.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 159,049 shares of company stock worth $14,194,542 in the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NextEra Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NEE. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 216,033,697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,343,185,000 after purchasing an additional 2,234,176 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 47,272,019 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,781,790,000 after purchasing an additional 966,152 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,816,327,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 18,365,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,474,407,000 after buying an additional 1,136,074 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 17,281,357 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,387,347,000 after buying an additional 485,854 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE NEE traded down $3.19 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $91.92. The company had a trading volume of 20,009,387 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,727,543. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market cap of $191.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.76. NextEra Energy has a fifty-two week low of $61.72 and a fifty-two week high of $95.91. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.42.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.01. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 24.93% and a return on equity of 12.18%. The company had revenue of $6.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that NextEra Energy will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be paid a $0.6232 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.49 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.68%.

NextEra Energy Company Profile

NextEra Energy, Inc (NYSE: NEE), headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida, is a leading clean energy company with both regulated utility operations and competitive renewable generation businesses. The company’s principal operating subsidiaries include Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), a regulated electric utility serving customers in Florida, and NextEra Energy Resources, which develops, constructs, owns and operates a large portfolio of wind, solar and energy storage projects. Together these businesses provide electricity supply, transmission and distribution services as well as utility-scale renewable generation and related services.

NextEra’s activities cover the full lifecycle of power assets, from project development and construction to operation, maintenance and asset optimization.