Ascent Group LLC Grows Position in NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE:NEP)

Ascent Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE:NEP – Get Rating) by 74.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,740 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,566 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy Partners were worth $1,314,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy Partners by 3.4% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,118,598 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $80,887,000 after buying an additional 37,166 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC boosted its position in shares of NextEra Energy Partners by 297.0% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC now owns 17,110 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $1,237,000 after acquiring an additional 12,800 shares during the last quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. boosted its position in shares of NextEra Energy Partners by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 108,801 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $7,868,000 after acquiring an additional 3,896 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of NextEra Energy Partners by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 201,232 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $14,551,000 after acquiring an additional 20,875 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Castleark Management LLC boosted its position in shares of NextEra Energy Partners by 240.6% during the 3rd quarter. Castleark Management LLC now owns 15,360 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $1,111,000 after acquiring an additional 10,850 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on NEP shares. StockNews.com cut shares of NextEra Energy Partners from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of NextEra Energy Partners from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. Raymond James raised shares of NextEra Energy Partners from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of NextEra Energy Partners from $89.00 to $87.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of NextEra Energy Partners from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $84.90.

NextEra Energy Partners Trading Up 2.9 %

NYSE NEP opened at $62.64 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $70.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.45. NextEra Energy Partners, LP has a 12 month low of $60.69 and a 12 month high of $86.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.07, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.91.

NextEra Energy Partners (NYSE:NEP – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 25th. The solar energy provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $266.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $336.74 million. NextEra Energy Partners had a return on equity of 3.78% and a net margin of 39.39%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.12) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy Partners, LP will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.8125 per share. This represents a $3.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 3rd. This is a boost from NextEra Energy Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. NextEra Energy Partners’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.42%.

NextEra Energy Partners Company Profile

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NextEra Energy Partners LP engages in the acquisition, management, and ownership of contracted clean energy projects with long-term cash flows. It owns interests in wind and solar projects in North America and natural gas infrastructure assets in Texas. The company was founded on March 6, 2014 and is headquartered in Juno Beach, FL.