Brokerages Set NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) Target Price at $72.46

Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $72.00.

Several brokerages have recently commented on NEE. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $67.00 price target (up previously from $65.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $66.00 price target for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $76.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in NextEra Energy by 1.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 198,430,172 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,368,065,000 after buying an additional 1,956,153 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,561,055,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in NextEra Energy by 66,613.3% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,263,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,530,055,000 after buying an additional 30,218,452 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in NextEra Energy by 2.0% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,982,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,316,653,000 after buying an additional 455,271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in NextEra Energy by 37.7% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 21,049,622 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,278,553,000 after buying an additional 5,764,842 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NEE stock opened at $63.08 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $59.19 and its 200-day moving average is $58.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $129.47 billion, a PE ratio of 17.47, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.51. NextEra Energy has a 52 week low of $47.15 and a 52 week high of $79.78.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.72 billion. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.73% and a net margin of 26.00%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.51 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that NextEra Energy will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.515 per share. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 26th. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.06%.

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.