NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Shares Up 4.3% – Time to Buy?

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)’s stock price traded up 4.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $76.22 and last traded at $75.98. 10,768,504 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 5% from the average session volume of 11,324,811 shares. The stock had previously closed at $72.83.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on NEE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $99.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on NextEra Energy from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NextEra Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $85.85.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $156.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.59, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $70.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.47.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 28.06%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.5665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total transaction of $162,258.47. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,427 shares in the company, valued at $1,867,504.43. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of NextEra Energy

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NEE. Copia Wealth Management acquired a new position in NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $64,000. Fluent Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Fluent Financial LLC now owns 57,990 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,157,000 after purchasing an additional 4,020 shares during the period. Cim LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Cim LLC now owns 33,434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,397,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $179,000. 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.