What happened
On Thursday, NextEra Energy (NEE -1.36%) successfully raised $2 billion in equity units to fund its ambitious growth agenda. But investors appear more focused on dilution in the short term, sending NextEra shares down as much as 4.6% in Thursday trading.
So what
NextEra has long been a leader among utilities when it comes to green energy, and the company has big plans to expand its use of renewables in the years to come. But those projects require capital to get off the ground.
On Thursday morning, NextEra announced it had successfully raised $2 billion by selling equity units. The units are a form of a convertible preferred stock, with each unit consisting of a five-year fixed-income security and an obligation to buy NextEra shares down the line at a to-be-determined price.
The proceeds are to be added to the funding of NextEra Energy Capital Holdings, which is NextEra's fund for investing in energy and power projects and other corporate purposes.
Now what
For long-term investors, nothing about this deal should provide reason for concern. NextEra has a well-articulated investment strategy and it has been assumed from the start that the company would need to raise the funds to pay for its continued investment in renewables. Should the projects be developed as planned, they are very likely to pay off for the company and its shareholders.
But more shares mean each individual share owns just a little less of the company, and some sort of a market adjustment is nearly inevitable when these sorts of corporate events happen. For those able to look past today's trading, NextEra remains an intriguing choice among utility stocks.
