First Horizon Corp Invests $2.22 Million in NextEra Energy, Inc. $NEE

First Horizon Corp bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 29,463 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,224,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.7% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 212,877,021 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,777,923,000 after acquiring an additional 5,554,603 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in NextEra Energy by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 45,724,229 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,161,774,000 after purchasing an additional 526,996 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in NextEra Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,375,545,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.1% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,786,728 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,165,896,000 after buying an additional 340,315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.6% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 16,414,103 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,139,467,000 after buying an additional 408,198 shares during the period. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NEE stock opened at $81.11 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $82.32 and a 200 day moving average of $77.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market cap of $168.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.74. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.72 and a twelve month high of $87.53.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $7.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.13 billion. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 12.42% and a net margin of 24.72%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 21st were given a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 21st. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NextEra Energy news, CEO Armando Pimentel, Jr. sold 145,140 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.91, for a total value of $12,178,697.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 162,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,651,569.63. This represents a 47.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on NEE. Mizuho upped their target price on NextEra Energy from $78.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $96.00 price objective (up from $84.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $88.00 target price (up previously from $85.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, December 31st. Finally, New Street Research set a $84.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.72.

NextEra Energy Company 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.