NextDecade (NASDAQ:NEXT) Shares Gap Up on Strong Earnings

Shares of NextDecade Corporation (NASDAQ:NEXT) gapped up prior to trading on Monday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $5.39, but opened at $6.00. NextDecade shares last traded at $5.5450, with a volume of 2,129,789 shares changing hands.

The company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.61) by $0.43.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NEXT. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on NextDecade from $10.00 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Capital One Financial began coverage on NextDecade in a report on Friday, February 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $7.00 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of NextDecade in a report on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, NextDecade has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $7.00.

Insider Activity at NextDecade

In other NextDecade news, major shareholder Aerospace Co. Ltd. Hanwha acquired 851,971 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $5.83 per share, for a total transaction of $4,966,990.93. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,620,222 shares in the company, valued at $149,365,894.26. This represents a 3.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders acquired 3,221,532 shares of company stock worth $19,049,898. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NextDecade

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Man Investment Partners US LP acquired a new stake in NextDecade in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,879,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its stake in shares of NextDecade by 520.0% in the 2nd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,550,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,810,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300,000 shares during the last quarter. Wolf Hill Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of NextDecade by 25.9% in the 4th quarter. Wolf Hill Capital Management LP now owns 3,698,857 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,493,000 after acquiring an additional 761,299 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in NextDecade by 77.6% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,676,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,834,000 after acquiring an additional 732,550 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new position in NextDecade in the 3rd quarter worth about $4,935,000. 66.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NextDecade Trading Up 4.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.34, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $1.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.68 and a beta of 2.02. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.39.

NextDecade Company Profile

NextDecade Corporation is a Houston‐based liquefied natural gas (LNG) and decarbonization company focused on the development, engineering, construction and operation of large‐scale LNG export facilities. The company’s core mission is to deliver cleaner energy solutions to global customers while integrating carbon capture and sequestration technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. NextDecade’s projects are designed to leverage abundant U.S. natural gas supplies to meet growing worldwide demand for low‐carbon fuel.

NextDecade’s flagship project, Rio Grande LNG, is located at the Port of Brownsville in southern Texas.