NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.04 EPS

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.04, Zacks reports. The business had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.52 billion. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 22.84% and a return on equity of 12.31%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.96 EPS.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:NEE traded down $0.14 on Friday, reaching $71.83. 8,068,737 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,336,844. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.45. NextEra Energy has a 52 week low of $61.72 and a 52 week high of $86.10. The firm has a market cap of $147.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.67.

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 28th will be given a dividend of $0.5665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 28th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 79.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NextEra Energy news, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 23,684 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $1,657,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 196,817 shares in the company, valued at $13,777,190. The trade was a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Treasurer James Michael May sold 2,177 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.50, for a total transaction of $168,717.50. Following the sale, the treasurer owned 27,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,143,805. The trade was a 7.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NextEra Energy

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 38.4% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 12,542 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $887,000 after acquiring an additional 3,479 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in NextEra Energy by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,854 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $348,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in NextEra Energy by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 28,282 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,028,000 after purchasing an additional 1,840 shares during the period. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NEE. Erste Group Bank cut shares of NextEra Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. HSBC cut their target price 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. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $86.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $84.42.

NextEra Energy Company Profile

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.