NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

StockNews.com upgraded shares of NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on NEE. Mizuho reissued a buy rating and set a $67.00 target price (up previously from $65.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Friday, March 15th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $68.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Monday. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $71.50.

NextEra Energy Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NEE stock opened at $66.90 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.47. NextEra Energy has a 1 year low of $47.15 and a 1 year high of $78.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $137.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.23, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.51.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.11. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The business 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 firm posted $0.84 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. 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 56.13%.

Institutional Trading of NextEra Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NEE. Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 387.2% during the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 458 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the period. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp boosted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 59.8% during the third quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the period. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 315.4% during the fourth quarter. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the period. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.