NextEra Energy Partners (NYSE:NEP) Trading Up 7.1%

NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE:NEP) rose 7.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $31.90 and last traded at $31.68. 940,705 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 32% from the average session volume of 1,378,777 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.58.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on NEP shares. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of NextEra Energy Partners in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. CIBC downgraded shares of NextEra Energy Partners from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Barclays started coverage on shares of NextEra Energy Partners in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $32.00 price target for the company. Raymond James lowered their price target on NextEra Energy Partners from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target 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. One research 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.60.

NextEra Energy Partners Stock Up 4.5 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $28.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The company has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.13 and a beta of 1.01.

NextEra Energy Partners (NYSE:NEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The solar energy provider reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.63. The business had revenue of $257.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $331.78 million. NextEra Energy Partners had a negative return on equity of 0.48% and a net margin of 23.55%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.17) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that NextEra Energy Partners, LP will post 1.54 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.8925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. This is a boost from NextEra Energy Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.55%. NextEra Energy Partners’s dividend payout ratio is presently 115.41%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NextEra Energy Partners

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in NextEra Energy Partners by 31.0% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,044,197 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $31,013,000 after purchasing an additional 246,908 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al lifted its stake in NextEra Energy Partners by 477.2% during the third quarter. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al now owns 238,288 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $7,077,000 after purchasing an additional 197,002 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in NextEra Energy Partners by 3.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 619,780 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $18,407,000 after purchasing an additional 23,008 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in NextEra Energy Partners by 1,557.8% during the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 319,287 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $9,483,000 after purchasing an additional 300,027 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in NextEra Energy Partners by 14.1% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 839,956 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $24,911,000 after purchasing an additional 104,055 shares during the last quarter. 66.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About NextEra Energy Partners

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.