NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Trading Up 1.5% – Still a Buy?

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)’s share price traded up 1.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $82.56 and last traded at $81.79. 1,896,372 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 10,824,517 shares. The stock had previously closed at $80.58.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on NEE shares. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on NextEra Energy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $87.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Dbs Bank cut shares of NextEra Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on NextEra Energy from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $73.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.07.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $168.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $81.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $74.73.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.29 billion. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 24.45% and a return on equity of 11.75%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a $0.515 dividend. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is currently 56.13%.

Insider Activity at NextEra Energy

In other NextEra Energy news, EVP Nicole J. Daggs sold 658 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.97, for a total value of $50,646.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,697. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 35.7% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 100,308 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,411,000 after purchasing an additional 26,382 shares in the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 79,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,112,000 after buying an additional 7,677 shares during the period. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 1,224.3% during the second quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 72,453 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,130,000 after acquiring an additional 66,982 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 57.0% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 5,957,220 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $421,831,000 after acquiring an additional 2,163,437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Studio Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 94,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,761,000 after acquiring an additional 10,837 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.