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

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $77.79.

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup lifted their price target on NextEra Energy from $69.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on NextEra Energy from $76.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on NextEra Energy from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NEE stock opened at $72.00 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $74.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.71. NextEra Energy has a 12 month low of $47.15 and a 12 month high of $80.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.62, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

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

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were paid a $0.515 dividend. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 3rd. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.13%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NextEra Energy

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its stake in NextEra Energy by 16.4% in the second quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 105,313 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,457,000 after buying an additional 14,866 shares during the period. Madrona Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $201,000. First Pacific Financial increased its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 4.7% during the second quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 10,232 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $725,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 7.7% during the second quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 4,052 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $287,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sara Bay Financial increased its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 55.9% during the second quarter. Sara Bay Financial now owns 9,799 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $694,000 after acquiring an additional 3,513 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.