NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $83.8462.

NEE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Erste Group Bank cut shares of NextEra Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. HSBC lowered their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on NextEra Energy from $102.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays increased their price target on NextEra Energy from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Melius initiated coverage on NextEra Energy in a research note on Wednesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $77.00 price objective on the stock.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NEE opened at $76.2550 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.71. NextEra Energy has a 1 year low of $61.72 and a 1 year high of $86.10. The company has a market capitalization of $157.03 billion, a PE ratio of 26.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.63.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.52 billion. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 12.31% and a net margin of 22.84%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.96 EPS. Research analysts expect that NextEra Energy will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 28th will be paid a $0.5665 dividend. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 28th. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is 79.02%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Robert Coffey sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.84, for a total transaction of $538,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 26,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,906,561.76. This represents a 22.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Treasurer James Michael May sold 2,177 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.50, for a total transaction of $168,717.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the treasurer directly owned 27,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,143,805. This represents a 7.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Activest Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 79.7% in the 2nd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 354 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. bought a new position in NextEra Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in NextEra Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC acquired a new stake in NextEra Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Quaker Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in NextEra Energy by 200.0% in the second quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 386 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 772 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is currently 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.