Webster Bank N. A. Raises Stock Position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Webster Bank N. A. increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the period. Webster Bank N. A.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $1,015,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NEE. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Country Trust Bank boosted its position in NextEra Energy by 975.6% in the 3rd quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. West Tower Group LLC purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. GeoWealth Management LLC boosted its position in NextEra Energy by 124.1% in the 1st quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 549 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the period. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp boosted its position in NextEra Energy by 59.8% in the 3rd quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the period. 78.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on NEE. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of NextEra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $76.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.46.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:NEE opened at $62.55 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.55. The company has a fifty day moving average of $58.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.38 billion, a PE ratio of 17.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.51. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $47.15 and a fifty-two week high of $79.78.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.72 billion. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 26.00% and a return on equity of 11.73%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This is a boost from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 26th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.