Mirova US LLC Purchases 1,120,051 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Mirova US LLC raised its position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 41.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,825,684 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,120,051 shares during the quarter. NextEra Energy accounts for about 3.5% of Mirova US LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Mirova US LLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $232,372,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors acquired a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $247,000. Scissortail Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $474,000. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,402,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 729,539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,312,000 after purchasing an additional 69,718 shares during the period. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 69,504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,222,000 after purchasing an additional 2,110 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on NEE shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Barclays started coverage on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $66.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $74.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of NextEra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.36.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NextEra Energy stock traded down $1.05 on Wednesday, reaching $61.70. 11,594,124 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,029,350. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $47.15 and a 52 week high of $79.78. The company has a 50 day moving average of $59.43 and a 200 day moving average of $58.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.63 billion, a PE ratio of 17.09, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.03. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 26.00% and a return on equity of 11.73%. The firm had revenue of $6.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.515 per share. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 26th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.