NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) Position Increased by Salem Investment Counselors Inc.

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 701 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $4,244,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,561,055,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in NextEra Energy by 7,999.6% during 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 buying an additional 2,146,625 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in NextEra Energy by 1.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 198,430,172 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,368,065,000 after buying an additional 1,956,153 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors bought a new position in NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $114,953,000. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new position in NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $94,883,000. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on NEE shares. Bank of America raised their target price on NextEra Energy from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on NextEra Energy from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on NextEra Energy from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.50.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

NYSE NEE traded up $0.35 during trading on Friday, reaching $72.81. 19,465,802 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,560,482. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.51. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $72.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.04. The company has a market cap of $149.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.56. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $47.15 and a 1-year high of $80.47.

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

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were issued a $0.515 dividend. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 3rd. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is currently 56.13%.

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.