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

Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $87.15.

Several brokerages have commented on NEE. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on NextEra Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $87.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of NextEra Energy from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $83.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th.

Insider Activity at NextEra Energy

In related news, EVP Nicole J. Daggs sold 4,007 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.57, for a total transaction of $302,808.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,193,401.44. This trade represents a 20.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of NextEra Energy

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in NextEra Energy by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 42,418,748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,571,650,000 after purchasing an additional 820,704 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 0.7% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,298,642 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,508,155,000 after purchasing an additional 143,748 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 0.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,284,785 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,122,963,000 after buying an additional 86,758 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,833,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $634,703,000 after buying an additional 1,525,436 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,630,775 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $729,559,000 after buying an additional 452,590 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

NYSE NEE opened at $70.41 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $144.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.58. NextEra Energy has a 1 year low of $53.95 and a 1 year high of $86.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $77.41.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $7.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.11 billion. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 26.49% and a return on equity of 11.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that NextEra Energy will post 3.41 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a $0.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is presently 60.95%.

About NextEra Energy

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.