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

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $71.93.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on NEE shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on NextEra Energy from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective 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.

NextEra Energy Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NEE opened at $71.95 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $62.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.94. NextEra Energy has a 12-month low of $47.15 and a 12-month high of $78.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.50.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $5.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.28 billion. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that NextEra Energy will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NextEra Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Clear Investment Research LLC increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 387.2% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 458 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. American Capital Advisory LLC increased its holdings in NextEra Energy by 74.5% in the first quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 480 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp raised its stake in NextEra Energy by 59.8% in the third quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 315.4% during the 4th quarter. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.