Arizona State Retirement System Purchases 509 Shares of NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE:NEP)

Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in shares of NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE:NEP) by 2.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,186 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock after buying an additional 509 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in NextEra Energy Partners were worth $724,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy Partners in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of NextEra Energy Partners by 208.3% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 928 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares during the period. Heritage Wealth Advisors bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy Partners during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in NextEra Energy Partners in the first quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy Partners during the first quarter worth $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.01% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Partners Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NEP opened at $25.32 on Monday. NextEra Energy Partners, LP has a 52 week low of $20.17 and a 52 week high of $51.28. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $25.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $2.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.30 and a beta of 1.05.

NextEra Energy Partners (NYSE:NEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The solar energy provider reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.07. NextEra Energy Partners had a net margin of 24.42% and a negative return on equity of 0.40%. The business had revenue of $360.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $365.54 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that NextEra Energy Partners, LP will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Partners Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were paid a dividend of $0.905 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $3.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 14.30%. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. NextEra Energy Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 118.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on NEP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy Partners in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Wolfe Research lowered shares of NextEra Energy Partners from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays lowered shares of NextEra Energy Partners from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of NextEra Energy Partners from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $31.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Raymond James downgraded NextEra Energy Partners from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.00.

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.