Bank of Nova Scotia Buys 12,875 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE

Bank of Nova Scotia grew its stake in NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 341,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,875 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $25,783,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 28,282 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,028,000 after acquiring an additional 1,840 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $348,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 38.4% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 12,542 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $887,000 after purchasing an additional 3,479 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 18.1% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,563 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $386,000 after purchasing an additional 852 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Bank lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 2.9% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 15,596 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,083,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NextEra Energy stock opened at $92.87 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $193.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.23 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $88.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.10. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $61.72 and a 52-week high of $95.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.01. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 24.93% and a return on equity of 12.18%. The company had revenue of $6.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th were given a $0.6232 dividend. This represents a $2.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. This is a boost from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 27th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.68%.

Insider Transactions at NextEra Energy

In other news, CEO John W. Ketchum sold 99,603 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.34, for a total value of $8,898,532.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 305,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,332,054.22. The trade was a 24.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Ronald R. Reagan sold 18,620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $1,675,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 9,643 shares in the company, valued at $867,870. The trade was a 65.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 190,816 shares of company stock valued at $17,075,619. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. HSBC lifted their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $96.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $91.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Mizuho set a $90.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.16.

NextEra Energy Profile

NextEra Energy, Inc (NYSE: NEE), headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida, is a leading clean energy company with both regulated utility operations and competitive renewable generation businesses. The company’s principal operating subsidiaries include Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), a regulated electric utility serving customers in Florida, and NextEra Energy Resources, which develops, constructs, owns and operates a large portfolio of wind, solar and energy storage projects. Together these businesses provide electricity supply, transmission and distribution services as well as utility-scale renewable generation and related services.

NextEra’s activities cover the full lifecycle of power assets, from project development and construction to operation, maintenance and asset optimization.