HighVista Strategies LLC Purchases Shares of 15,752 NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE

HighVista Strategies LLC acquired a new position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 15,752 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,189,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in NextEra Energy in the second quarter worth about $2,375,545,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 212,877,021 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,777,923,000 after purchasing an additional 5,554,603 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 1,765.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,968,305 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $299,567,000 after purchasing an additional 3,755,563 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in NextEra Energy by 16.7% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 12,461,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,012,129,000 after purchasing an additional 1,780,881 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 18.7% during the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 10,796,329 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $749,481,000 after buying an additional 1,701,648 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on NextEra Energy from $91.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Wolfe Research upped their target price on NextEra Energy from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $87.00 price target on NextEra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Two research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.16.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Terrell Kirk Crews II sold 19,672 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.27, for a total value of $1,775,791.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 73,857 shares in the company, valued at $6,667,071.39. This trade represents a 21.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO John W. Ketchum sold 99,603 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 305,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,332,054.22. This trade represents a 24.56% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 185,882 shares of company stock worth $16,616,757 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Trading Up 1.2%

NextEra Energy stock opened at $92.81 on Monday. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $61.72 and a 12 month high of $95.91. The stock has a market cap of $193.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.21 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $88.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be issued a $0.6232 dividend. This represents a $2.49 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is currently 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.