Merit Financial Group LLC Purchases 3,362 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 20.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,911 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,362 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $1,209,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC acquired a new position in NextEra Energy during the third quarter valued at $141,817,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in NextEra Energy by 59.1% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,784,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $337,096,000 after acquiring an additional 2,148,205 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 7,999.6% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,173,459 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $132,016,000 after acquiring an additional 2,146,625 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in NextEra Energy by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 198,430,172 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,368,065,000 after purchasing an additional 1,956,153 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $94,883,000. 78.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on NEE shares. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays assumed coverage on NextEra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $66.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho increased their target price on NextEra Energy from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of NextEra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, NextEra Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.50.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 1.9 %

NYSE NEE opened at $70.14 on Monday. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $47.15 and a 52 week high of $78.53. The firm has a market cap of $144.10 billion, a PE ratio of 19.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.50. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.11. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The business had revenue of $5.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 27th were issued a $0.515 dividend. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 26th. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is 56.13%.

NextEra Energy Company Profile

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.