Wells Fargo & Company Cuts NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Price Target to $97.00

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) had its price target lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $102.00 to $97.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on NEE. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $89.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, NextEra Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.08.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NEE opened at $66.10 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $136.08 billion, a PE ratio of 19.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. NextEra Energy has a 1 year low of $61.72 and a 1 year high of $86.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $69.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $72.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.38.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.99. The company had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.58 billion. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 28.06% and a return on equity of 11.85%. Equities analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 84.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NextEra Energy news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total value of $162,258.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,867,504.43. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NextEra Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Burkett Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 1,229.6% during the fourth quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 359 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the period. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.