Viking Fund Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Viking Fund Management LLC increased its stake in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 17.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 280,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,000 shares during the quarter. NextEra Energy comprises about 3.2% of Viking Fund Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Viking Fund Management LLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $17,895,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 387.2% in the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 458 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 364 shares during the period. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in NextEra Energy by 315.4% in the fourth quarter. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on NEE shares. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of NextEra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.57.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 0.7 %

NEE stock traded up $0.52 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $73.89. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,760,765 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,864,222. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.43. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $47.15 and a twelve month high of $80.47. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $72.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.25, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.56.

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

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.515 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.13%.

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.