NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Hits New 52-Week High - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• 52‑week high: NextEra Energy hit a new 52‑week high, trading as high as $96.21 (last $95.63) and carrying a market cap of about $199.6 billion.
• Analyst view and results: The consensus is a “Moderate Buy” with an average target of $94.94 (some firms raised targets, e.g., HSBC to $103); the company posted a slight EPS beat ($0.54 vs. $0.53) but missed revenue expectations ($6.50B vs. $7.07B).
• Dividends and ownership moves: NextEra raised its quarterly dividend to $0.6232 ($2.49 annualized, ~2.6% yield); insiders have sold roughly 190,816 shares (~$17.1M) while large institutions like Norges Bank made sizable new purchases.

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $96.21 and last traded at $95.6290, with a volume of 1110824 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $94.17.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NEE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho set a $90.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of NextEra Energy from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. HSBC increased their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $96.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $95.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $94.94.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market cap of $199.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.12 and a beta of 0.74. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $91.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.51.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.01. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 24.93% and a return on equity of 12.18%. The firm had revenue of $6.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.53 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th were issued a $0.6232 dividend. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.49 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 27th. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.68%.

Insider Transactions at NextEra Energy

In other news, EVP Ronald R. Reagan sold 18,620 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $1,675,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 9,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $867,870. This trade represents a 65.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $2,700,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 167,481 shares in the company, valued at $15,073,290. This represents a 15.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 190,816 shares of company stock valued at $17,075,619. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter worth $2,816,327,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in NextEra Energy by 1,765.3% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,968,305 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $299,567,000 after acquiring an additional 3,755,563 shares during the period. Employees Provident Fund Board purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter worth $240,840,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in NextEra Energy by 47.3% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 9,254,022 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $742,913,000 after acquiring an additional 2,972,924 shares during the period. Finally, Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy in the third quarter worth $177,198,000. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company's stock.

NextEra Energy Company Profile

NextEra Energy, Inc NYSE: NEE, headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida, is a leading clean energy company with both regulated utility operations and competitive renewable generation businesses. The company's principal operating subsidiaries include Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), a regulated electric utility serving customers in Florida, and NextEra Energy Resources, which develops, constructs, owns and operates a large portfolio of wind, solar and energy storage projects. Together these businesses provide electricity supply, transmission and distribution services as well as utility-scale renewable generation and related services.

NextEra's activities cover the full lifecycle of power assets, from project development and construction to operation, maintenance and asset optimization.

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