NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Raised to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Monday morning.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on NEE. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a sector outperform rating in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $68.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $74.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $71.21.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE NEE opened at $66.56 on Monday. NextEra Energy has a one year low of $47.15 and a one year high of $79.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $136.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.44, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.51.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.11. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 26.00% and a return on equity of 11.73%. The business had revenue of $5.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.28 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.84 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.515 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 26th. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.06%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NextEra Energy

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Polaris Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 42.0% in the 1st quarter. Polaris Capital Management LLC now owns 523,464 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,455,000 after purchasing an additional 154,900 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 126.8% in the 1st quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 15,028 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $960,000 after purchasing an additional 8,403 shares during the last quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd raised its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd now owns 5,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $352,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Berkshire Bank raised its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Berkshire Bank now owns 48,159 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,078,000 after purchasing an additional 1,776 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Management Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the 1st quarter worth about $214,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Company Profile

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.