NextEra Energy (NEE) will raise its quarterly dividend by 12.6 percent to $1.25 per share in the first quarter of 2019. This follows last year's dividend hike from 98.25 cents to $1.11 per share by the utility company.

According to NEE this increase is consistent with the plan announced in 2018 of targeting 12 to 14 percent annual growth in dividends per share through at least 2020, off a 2017 base.

The next dividend is payable on March 15, 2019, to shareholders of record on Feb. 28, 2019. The new annualized rate yields 2.7% at a stock price of $184.

NextEra Energy, Inc. is a clean energy company headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida. NextEra Energy owns two electric companies in Florida: Florida Power & Light Company, which serves customer accounts in Florida and is one of the largest rate-regulated electric utilities in the United States; and Gulf Power Company, which serves customers in counties throughout northwest Florida. NextEra Energy also owns NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, which, together with its affiliated entities, is the world's largest generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun and a world leader in battery storage. Through its subsidiaries, NextEra Energy generates clean, emissions-free electricity from eight commercial nuclear power units in Florida, New Hampshire, Iowa and Wisconsin.