NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Given New $79.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) had its price target boosted by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $77.00 to $79.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target suggests a potential upside of 19.37% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on NEE. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $74.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut NextEra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 19th. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on NextEra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $66.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.93.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

NEE opened at $66.18 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $135.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.33, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.51. NextEra Energy has a 1 year low of $47.15 and a 1 year high of $79.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $60.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.83.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.11. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.73% and a net margin of 26.00%. The company had revenue of $5.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.84 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that NextEra Energy will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NextEra Energy

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charter Oak Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in NextEra Energy by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Charter Oak Capital Management LLC now owns 14,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $905,000 after acquiring an additional 926 shares in the last quarter. BSW Wealth Partners raised its holdings in NextEra Energy by 16.5% in the 1st quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 6,194 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $396,000 after acquiring an additional 879 shares in the last quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in NextEra Energy by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 10,031 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $641,000 after acquiring an additional 1,250 shares in the last quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 22.4% in the 1st quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 9,274 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $593,000 after purchasing an additional 1,697 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,798,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

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.