NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) PT Lowered to $68.00 at BMO Capital Markets

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) had its price target reduced by BMO Capital Markets from $77.00 to $68.00 in a research note published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on NEE. StockNews.com lowered shares of NextEra Energy from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Monday, February 19th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $66.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and issued a $74.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Mizuho reissued a buy rating and issued a $67.00 target price (up from $65.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $71.36.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NEE stock opened at $64.00 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $131.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.73, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.51. The company’s 50 day moving average is $59.73 and its 200 day moving average is $58.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. NextEra Energy has a 52-week low of $47.15 and a 52-week high of $79.78.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.03. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 26.00% and a return on equity of 11.73%. The business had revenue of $6.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were issued a $0.515 dividend. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 26th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.06%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NextEra Energy

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 1.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 198,430,172 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,368,065,000 after purchasing an additional 1,956,153 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $2,561,055,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 66,613.3% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,263,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,530,055,000 after purchasing an additional 30,218,452 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,982,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,316,653,000 after acquiring an additional 455,271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 37.7% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,049,622 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,278,553,000 after acquiring an additional 5,764,842 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.