PGGM Investments Has $35.14 Million Stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

PGGM Investments raised its holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 31.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 578,550 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 137,728 shares during the period. PGGM Investments’ holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $35,141,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 59.8% in the third quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the period. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. boosted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 315.4% during the fourth quarter. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho upped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays assumed coverage on NextEra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $66.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Scotiabank increased their price target on NextEra Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on NextEra Energy from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.50.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NEE traded down $0.91 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $65.99. 9,982,762 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,921,297. The firm has a market capitalization of $135.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.51. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $47.15 and a 52 week high of $78.53. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.06.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $5.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.28 billion. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 27.62%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.515 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 26th. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.12%. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.