NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Earns Buy Rating from Guggenheim

Guggenheim reissued their buy rating on shares of NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) in a research report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $89.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock.

NEE has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.92.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

NEE opened at $71.17 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $70.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.40 billion, a PE ratio of 21.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. NextEra Energy has a 52 week low of $61.29 and a 52 week high of $86.10.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 28.06%. As a group, analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This is a boost from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.06%.

Insider Activity at NextEra Energy

In other news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total transaction of $162,258.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,427 shares in the company, valued at $1,867,504.43. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of NextEra Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NEE. Burkett Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 1,229.6% during the 4th quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 359 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC bought a new stake in NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in NextEra Energy in the third quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

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.