NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• NextEra Energy, Inc. has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from 16 analysts, with a current average 12-month price objective of $84.00.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5665 per share, which corresponds to a 3.2% dividend yield and a dividend payout ratio of 79.02%.
• NextEra Energy reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.05, surpassing analysts' expectations, with revenue of $6.70 billion, marking a 10.4% year-over-year increase.

Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the sixteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $84.00.

NEE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho set a $78.00 price objective on NextEra Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. UBS Group reduced their price objective on NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Melius Research upgraded NextEra Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, HSBC reduced their price objective on NextEra Energy from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 11th.

NextEra Energy Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NextEra Energy stock opened at $71.66 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $71.07. NextEra Energy has a 12-month low of $61.72 and a 12-month high of $86.10. The company has a market capitalization of $147.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.52 billion. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 12.31% and a net margin of 22.84%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.96 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.5665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 28th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 79.02%.

Insider Transactions at NextEra Energy

In other news, EVP Michael Dunne sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.79, for a total transaction of $707,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 62,064 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,393,510.56. This represents a 13.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Robert Coffey sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.84, for a total value of $538,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 26,539 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,906,561.76. The trade was a 22.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 19,677 shares of company stock worth $1,415,418. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 14.2% during the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 38,206 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,652,000 after purchasing an additional 4,744 shares in the last quarter. Milestones Private Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $467,000. NWF Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 74.6% during the 2nd quarter. NWF Advisory Services Inc. now owns 28,823 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,001,000 after purchasing an additional 12,318 shares in the last quarter. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC now owns 20,831 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,446,000 after purchasing an additional 911 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SevenBridge Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 45.3% during the 2nd quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC now owns 35,514 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,552,000 after purchasing an additional 11,065 shares in the last quarter. 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.

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