NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• NextEra Energy, Inc. has received an average consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from fifteen brokerages, with a 12-month price target averaging around $85.08.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5665 per share, translating to an annualized dividend of $2.27 and a yield of 2.7%.
• NextEra Energy reported $1.05 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, although their revenue fell short at $6.70 billion against expectations of $7.52 billion.

Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the fifteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $85.0769.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho set a $78.00 target price on NextEra Energy in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Evercore ISI set a $92.00 target price on NextEra Energy and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Melius Research upgraded NextEra Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $95.00 target price (down previously from $96.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on NextEra Energy from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th.

NextEra Energy Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE NEE opened at $83.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.54. NextEra Energy has a 52 week low of $61.72 and a 52 week high of $86.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $172.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.24, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.66. The stock's fifty day moving average is $73.94 and its 200 day moving average is $71.63.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.04. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 12.31% and a net margin of 22.84%.The firm had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.96 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that NextEra Energy will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 28th were issued a dividend of $0.5665 per share. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 28th. NextEra Energy's payout ratio is 79.37%.

Insider Activity at NextEra Energy

In other news, EVP Robert Coffey sold 7,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.84, for a total transaction of $538,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 26,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,906,561.76. The trade was a 22.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Treasurer James Michael May sold 2,177 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.50, for a total value of $168,717.50. Following the sale, the treasurer owned 27,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,143,805. This trade represents a 7.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 32,705 shares of company stock valued at $2,446,490. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of NextEra Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 28,282 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,028,000 after buying an additional 1,840 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,854 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $348,000 after buying an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 20.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 34,681 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,459,000 after buying an additional 5,949 shares in the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $355,000. Finally, CX Institutional boosted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 24.7% during the 1st quarter. CX Institutional now owns 12,611 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $894,000 after buying an additional 2,499 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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