NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) Receives $85.92 Average PT from Analysts

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $85.92.

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th.

Insider Activity

In other NextEra Energy news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total transaction of $162,258.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,867,504.43. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NextEra Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NEE. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 205,297,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,717,758,000 after buying an additional 2,090,538 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,484,197,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 43,778,016 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,129,132,000 after purchasing an additional 1,359,268 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,090,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,655,353,000 after purchasing an additional 2,030,331 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,523,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,041,210,000 after purchasing an additional 588,038 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NEE opened at $70.44 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $70.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $144.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. NextEra Energy has a 1-year low of $61.31 and a 1-year high of $86.10.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 28.06% and a return on equity of 11.85%. Analysts expect that NextEra Energy will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 67.06%.

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.