Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 23,008 Shares of NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE:NEP)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE:NEP) by 3.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 619,780 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock after buying an additional 23,008 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc.’s holdings in NextEra Energy Partners were worth $18,407,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in NextEra Energy Partners by 2.8% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 29,854 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $2,488,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy Partners by 43.2% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 9,474 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $790,000 after acquiring an additional 2,858 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy Partners by 123.8% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 5,466 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $456,000 after acquiring an additional 3,024 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in NextEra Energy Partners by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,860 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $406,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in NextEra Energy Partners by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 65,199 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $5,488,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares during the period. 66.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NextEra Energy Partners Stock Performance

NYSE:NEP opened at $27.55 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.93 and a beta of 1.00. NextEra Energy Partners, LP has a 1 year low of $20.17 and a 1 year high of $64.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.22.

NextEra Energy Partners (NYSE:NEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The solar energy provider reported ($0.35) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by ($0.38). NextEra Energy Partners had a net margin of 16.00% and a negative return on equity of 1.06%. The company had revenue of $232.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $360.03 million. On average, analysts expect that NextEra Energy Partners, LP will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 6th were paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.78%. This is an increase from NextEra Energy Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.87. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 5th. NextEra Energy Partners’s dividend payout ratio is 165.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on NEP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy Partners from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of NextEra Energy Partners to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. CIBC downgraded shares of NextEra Energy Partners from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Barclays began coverage on NextEra Energy Partners in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on NextEra Energy Partners in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $43.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.53.

NextEra Energy Partners Company Profile

NextEra Energy Partners, LP acquires, owns, and manages contracted clean energy projects in the United States. It owns a portfolio of contracted renewable generation assets consisting of wind, solar, and battery storage projects. The company owns contracted natural gas pipeline assets. NextEra Energy Partners, LP was incorporated in 2014 and is based in Juno Beach, Florida.