Bank OZK Reduces Stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Bank OZK lowered its position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 524 shares during the period. Bank OZK’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $762,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in NextEra Energy by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 83,020 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,043,000 after purchasing an additional 3,310 shares in the last quarter. Leisure Capital Management purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $203,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in NextEra Energy by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 156,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,512,000 after purchasing an additional 11,400 shares in the last quarter. Investment Partners LTD. boosted its position in NextEra Energy by 30.8% in the 4th quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 6,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 1,561 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,722,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

NYSE NEE traded down $0.91 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $65.99. The stock had a trading volume of 9,982,762 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,921,297. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $60.85 and its 200 day moving average is $59.06. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $47.15 and a twelve month high of $78.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $135.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.99, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.51.

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

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 a boost from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 26th. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.12%. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is presently 56.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on NEE. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho upped their target price on NextEra Energy from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on NextEra Energy from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.50.

NextEra Energy 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.