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

Bank OZK trimmed its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm 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 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NEE. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $141,817,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 59.1% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,784,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $337,096,000 after purchasing an additional 2,148,205 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 7,999.6% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,173,459 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $132,016,000 after acquiring an additional 2,146,625 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 198,430,172 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,368,065,000 after acquiring an additional 1,956,153 shares during the period. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $94,883,000. 78.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NextEra Energy Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:NEE traded down $0.91 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $65.99. 9,982,762 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,921,297. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.51. The company has a market cap of $135.58 billion, a PE ratio of 17.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $60.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.06. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $47.15 and a twelve month high of $78.53.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.11. The business 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 business’s quarterly revenue was down 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.84 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were issued a $0.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 26th. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.12%. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is currently 56.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on NEE. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $74.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.50.

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.