NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $71.93.

Several research analysts recently commented on NEE shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Bank of America boosted their target price on NextEra Energy from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Scotiabank raised their price target on NextEra Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:NEE opened at $71.95 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $147.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.60, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.50. NextEra Energy has a 1 year low of $47.15 and a 1 year high of $78.53. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.11. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The company had revenue of $5.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.84 earnings per share. NextEra Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.515 per share. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 26th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.13%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NextEra Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,561,055,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $141,817,000. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its holdings in NextEra Energy by 400.7% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 2,812,198 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $179,728,000 after buying an additional 2,250,500 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in NextEra Energy by 59.1% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,784,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $337,096,000 after buying an additional 2,148,205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 7,999.6% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,173,459 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $132,016,000 after buying an additional 2,146,625 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Company Profile

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.