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

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down before the market opened 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

Several equities research analysts recently commented on NEE shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on NextEra Energy from $102.00 to $97.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Barclays dropped their target price on NextEra Energy from $73.00 to $65.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $89.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $84.55.

NextEra Energy Trading Down 3.0%

The company has a market cap of $149.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $70.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.17.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 21.81%. The business had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 85.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NextEra Energy news, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 23,684 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 196,817 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,777,190. The trade was a 10.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of NextEra Energy

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tradition Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in NextEra Energy by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,625 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $470,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,943 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $139,000 after buying an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Cim LLC raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Cim LLC now owns 33,434 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,397,000 after buying an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Conning Inc. raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 14,089 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $999,000 after buying an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. now owns 3,877 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company's stock.

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.