Private Advisor Group LLC Sells 3,867 Shares of NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE:NEP)

Private Advisor Group LLC lessened its holdings in NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE:NEP) by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 18,781 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock after selling 3,867 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in NextEra Energy Partners were worth $519,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. M&G Plc acquired a new position in NextEra Energy Partners in the first quarter valued at approximately $83,069,000. Commerce Bank purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy Partners in the 1st quarter valued at $15,597,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy Partners during the 1st quarter worth $9,927,000. ClearBridge Investments Ltd lifted its stake in NextEra Energy Partners by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. ClearBridge Investments Ltd now owns 4,161,433 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $125,176,000 after acquiring an additional 250,456 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC acquired a new stake in NextEra Energy Partners in the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,452,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.01% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Partners Stock Up 4.9 %

Shares of NEP stock opened at $20.19 on Tuesday. NextEra Energy Partners, LP has a 1 year low of $19.03 and a 1 year high of $35.15. The stock has a market cap of $1.89 billion, a PE ratio of 9.26 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s fifty day moving average is $24.72 and its 200-day moving average is $27.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 2.02.

NextEra Energy Partners (NYSE:NEP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The solar energy provider reported ($0.43) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.94). The business had revenue of $319.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $332.25 million. NextEra Energy Partners had a negative return on equity of 1.07% and a net margin of 17.47%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.57 EPS. Equities analysts expect that NextEra Energy Partners, LP will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.9175 per share. This represents a $3.67 annualized dividend and a yield of 18.18%. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 6th. NextEra Energy Partners’s payout ratio is currently 166.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on NEP. Guggenheim cut NextEra Energy Partners from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy Partners in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on NextEra Energy Partners from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Raymond James lowered NextEra Energy Partners from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered NextEra Energy Partners from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, NextEra Energy Partners has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.69.

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.