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

Key Points

• NextEra Energy has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from fifteen brokerages, with an average target price of $84.42 for the stock.
• Insider trading was noted, with EVP Charles E. Sieving selling 23,684 shares and Treasurer James Michael May selling 2,177 shares of the company's stock.
• NextEra Energy is scheduled to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.5665 per share on September 15th, representing a yield of 3.15%.

Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" by the fifteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $84.42.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on NEE shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of NextEra Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $102.00 to $97.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. HSBC cut their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE NEE traded down $0.39 on Friday, hitting $71.56. 1,114,309 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,158,680. 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 has a 1-year low of $61.72 and a 1-year high of $86.10. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $72.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.37 billion, a PE ratio of 25.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.67.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The utilities provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.52 billion. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 22.84% and a return on equity of 12.31%. The firm's revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.96 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that NextEra Energy will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.5665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 28th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. NextEra Energy's payout ratio is 79.02%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Treasurer James Michael May sold 2,177 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.50, for a total transaction of $168,717.50. Following the completion of the sale, the treasurer directly owned 27,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,143,805. This represents a 7.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 23,684 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $1,657,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 196,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,777,190. This represents a 10.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,361 shares of company stock worth $2,365,398 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of NextEra Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NEE. Activest Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 79.7% during the 2nd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 354 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the second quarter worth $25,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the first quarter worth $26,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC acquired a new position in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Nova Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in NextEra Energy in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. 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.