NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Shares Gap Down - Here's What Happened

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $74.75, but opened at $72.86. NextEra Energy shares last traded at $72.12, with a volume of 3,255,600 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on NEE shares. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of NextEra Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays raised their target price on NextEra Energy from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $84.73.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $71.35 and a 200-day moving average of $70.24. The company has a market cap of $153.06 billion, a PE ratio of 27.85, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99. The firm had revenue of $6.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.58 billion. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 21.81% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.91 EPS. As a group, 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, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a dividend of $0.5665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 85.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NextEra Energy

In related news, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 23,684 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,777,190. This trade represents a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of NextEra Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 207,322,418 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $14,697,086,000 after buying an additional 2,025,193 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $3,484,197,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in NextEra Energy by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 43,778,016 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,129,132,000 after acquiring an additional 1,359,268 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,353,245 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,655,512,000 after acquiring an additional 262,819 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 21,269,146 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,507,770,000 after acquiring an additional 1,336,259 shares during the period. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.