NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $94.7222.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on NEE shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Argus set a $92.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Mizuho set a $90.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $106.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of NextEra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NEE opened at $93.22 on Friday. NextEra Energy has a fifty-two week low of $61.72 and a fifty-two week high of $95.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $91.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $194.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.33 and a beta of 0.74.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $6.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.07 billion. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 12.18% and a net margin of 24.93%.The business’s revenue was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that NextEra Energy will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th were paid a $0.6232 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.49 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is currently 75.68%.

Insider Transactions at NextEra Energy

In other news, EVP Nicole J. Daggs sold 4,934 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.00, for a total value of $458,862.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 16,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,572,165. The trade was a 22.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Terrell Kirk Crews II sold 19,672 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.27, for a total transaction of $1,775,791.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 73,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,667,071.39. This represents a 21.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 190,816 shares of company stock valued at $17,075,619. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of NextEra Energy

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 216,033,697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $17,343,185,000 after purchasing an additional 2,234,176 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in NextEra Energy by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 47,272,019 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,781,790,000 after buying an additional 966,152 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,816,327,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in NextEra Energy by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 18,365,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,474,407,000 after acquiring an additional 1,136,074 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in NextEra Energy by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 17,281,357 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,387,347,000 after acquiring an additional 485,854 shares during the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About NextEra Energy

NextEra Energy, Inc (NYSE: NEE), headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida, is a leading clean energy company with both regulated utility operations and competitive renewable generation businesses. The company’s principal operating subsidiaries include Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), a regulated electric utility serving customers in Florida, and NextEra Energy Resources, which develops, constructs, owns and operates a large portfolio of wind, solar and energy storage projects. Together these businesses provide electricity supply, transmission and distribution services as well as utility-scale renewable generation and related services.

NextEra’s activities cover the full lifecycle of power assets, from project development and construction to operation, maintenance and asset optimization.