Nextpower (NASDAQ:NXT) Upgraded to "Strong-Buy" at Piper Sandler

Key Points

• Piper Sandler upgraded Nextpower to “strong buy,” while the broader analyst consensus remains “moderate buy” with an average price target of $144.96.
• Shares opened at $82.37, down 3.6%, well below their 50-day and 200-day moving averages; the stock has traded between $64.30 and $163.13 over the past year.
• Nextpower exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $1.20 in adjusted EPS versus the $1.05 consensus, though insiders sold approximately $10.0 million of stock over the last quarter.

Nextpower (NASDAQ:NXT - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Piper Sandler to a "strong-buy" rating in a report issued on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Roth Capital restated a "buy" rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Nextpower in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Nextpower from $149.00 to $147.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Nextpower from $145.00 to $132.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $137.00 price objective on Nextpower in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Nextpower from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $144.96.

Nextpower Stock Down 3.6%

NASDAQ:NXT opened at $82.37 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $12.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.34, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.92. The company's 50 day moving average price is $97.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $112.47. Nextpower has a 52 week low of $64.30 and a 52 week high of $163.13.

Nextpower (NASDAQ:NXT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $935.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $935.39 million. Nextpower had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 26.29%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nextpower will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Nextpower news, Director Julia Blunden sold 3,723 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.08, for a total transaction of $327,921.84. Following the sale, the director owned 6,434 shares in the company, valued at approximately $566,706.72. This trade represents a 36.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Daniel S. Shugar sold 67,636 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.07, for a total transaction of $6,971,242.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 871,131 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,787,472.17. The trade was a 7.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 100,431 shares of company stock worth $10,039,748. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nextpower

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NXT. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nextpower by 20.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,076 shares of the company's stock valued at $366,000 after buying an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in Nextpower by 20.2% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 102,483 shares of the company's stock worth $12,210,000 after buying an additional 17,221 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its stake in Nextpower by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 6,612 shares of the company's stock worth $788,000 after buying an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Nextpower by 19.9% during the second quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 2,363 shares of the company's stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares during the period. Finally, Nykredit A S bought a new stake in Nextpower during the second quarter valued at about $608,000. 67.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Nextpower

Nextpower, formerly known as Nextracker, is traded on NASDAQ under the symbol NXT and is a leading provider of advanced solar tracking solutions for utility-scale and distributed energy projects. The company specializes in the design, engineering and manufacturing of single-axis tracker systems that optimize the capture of solar energy by following the sun’s trajectory throughout the day. Nextpower’s core hardware offerings aim to enhance energy yield, reduce balance-of-system costs and simplify installation and maintenance for downstream solar developers and operators.

In addition to its tracker hardware, Nextpower provides a suite of digital software and analytics tools to maximize asset performance.

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