Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Raises Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH increased its position in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 2.8% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 747,531 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,691 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $52,992,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 205,297,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,717,758,000 after purchasing an additional 2,090,538 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $3,484,197,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 43,778,016 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,129,132,000 after buying an additional 1,359,268 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,090,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,655,353,000 after buying an additional 2,030,331 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,523,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,041,210,000 after buying an additional 588,038 shares during the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NEE opened at $72.94 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $61.72 and a 12-month high of $86.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $68.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.55.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 28.06%. The firm had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.91 earnings per share. NextEra Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a $0.5665 dividend. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 84.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on NEE. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays decreased their price objective on NextEra Energy from $73.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on NextEra Energy from $102.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered shares of NextEra Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.50.

Insider Transactions at NextEra Energy

In related news, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 23,684 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $1,657,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 196,817 shares in the company, valued at $13,777,190. The trade was a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.