NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Sets New 52-Week High - What's Next?

Key Points

• NextEra Energy reached a new 52-week high of $86.28 during mid-day trading, indicating strong investor interest with a volume of over 1.4 million shares traded.
• The company reported $1.05 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, alongside a revenue of $6.70 billion, which was below analysts' expectations.
• NextEra Energy recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.5665 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 2.7% with a payout ratio of 79.02%.

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $86.28 and last traded at $85.90, with a volume of 1426601 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $84.64.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on NEE. Melius began coverage on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $77.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho set a $78.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. New Street Research set a $84.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Monday. Finally, Melius Research raised shares of NextEra Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $85.57.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

The company's 50 day simple moving average is $74.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.94. The stock has a market cap of $175.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.91, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.66. 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 (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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.04. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 22.84% and a return on equity of 12.31%. The company 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 company posted $0.96 EPS. The business's revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 28th were issued a $0.5665 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NextEra Energy news, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 11,336 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $906,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 167,481 shares in the company, valued at $13,398,480. This trade represents a 6.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Mark Lemasney sold 846 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.90, for a total transaction of $63,365.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 9,267 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $694,098.30. This represents a 8.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 32,705 shares of company stock valued at $2,446,490. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of NextEra Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NEE. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in NextEra Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,375,545,000. GQG Partners LLC lifted its stake in NextEra Energy by 58.4% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 17,236,502 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,221,896,000 after acquiring an additional 6,352,798 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in NextEra Energy by 2.7% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 212,877,021 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $14,777,923,000 after acquiring an additional 5,554,603 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 3,755,563 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 20.7% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,446,413 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,165,748,000 after buying an additional 2,815,629 shares during the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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