Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. Sells 605,714 Shares of NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE:NEP)

Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. reduced its stake in shares of NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE:NEP) by 23.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,940,630 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock after selling 605,714 shares during the period. NextEra Energy Partners comprises approximately 0.7% of Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. owned about 2.07% of NextEra Energy Partners worth $53,639,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NEP. CWM LLC grew its holdings in NextEra Energy Partners by 160.2% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 830 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy Partners in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy Partners by 208.3% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 928 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy Partners during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy Partners during the first quarter valued at about $36,000. 66.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays lowered shares of NextEra Energy Partners from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Morgan Stanley downgraded NextEra Energy Partners from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy Partners in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Mizuho downgraded shares of NextEra Energy Partners from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $33.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of NextEra Energy Partners from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $38.00 to $30.00 in a report on Monday, July 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy Partners presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.00.

NextEra Energy Partners Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NEP opened at $24.19 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.30. NextEra Energy Partners, LP has a fifty-two week low of $20.17 and a fifty-two week high of $51.28. The stock has a market cap of $2.26 billion, a PE ratio of 7.93 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $25.84 and a 200-day moving average of $28.35.

NextEra Energy Partners (NYSE:NEP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The solar energy provider reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.07. NextEra Energy Partners had a negative return on equity of 0.40% and a net margin of 24.42%. The business had revenue of $360.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $365.54 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy Partners, LP will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were paid a $0.905 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. This is a boost from NextEra Energy Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 14.96%. NextEra Energy Partners’s dividend payout ratio is currently 118.69%.

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.