Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Acquires New Position in NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE:NEP)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE:NEP) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 35,886 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock, valued at approximately $991,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NEP. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in NextEra Energy Partners by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 635,881 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $19,127,000 after acquiring an additional 22,370 shares during the period. Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy Partners during the first quarter valued at about $266,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC bought a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy Partners during the first quarter valued at about $1,308,000. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy Partners by 1.0% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 84,025 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $2,527,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy Partners during the first quarter worth about $9,927,000. 66.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NextEra Energy Partners Price Performance

NEP opened at $17.47 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a market cap of $1.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.88 and a beta of 1.10. NextEra Energy Partners, LP has a 12-month low of $15.55 and a 12-month high of $35.15.

NextEra Energy Partners (NYSE:NEP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The solar energy provider reported ($0.43) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.94). NextEra Energy Partners had a negative return on equity of 1.07% and a net margin of 17.47%. The company had revenue of $319.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $332.25 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.57 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that NextEra Energy Partners, LP will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th were given a dividend of $0.9175 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. This is a boost from NextEra Energy Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.67 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 21.01%. NextEra Energy Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 168.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on NextEra Energy Partners from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. Mizuho cut their target price on NextEra Energy Partners from $33.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised NextEra Energy Partners from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $25.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy Partners in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on NextEra Energy Partners in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $15.00 target price for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.69.

About NextEra Energy Partners

NextEra Energy Partners, LP acquires, owns, and manages contracted clean energy projects in the United States. It owns a portfolio of contracted renewable generation assets consisting of wind, solar, and battery storage projects. The company owns contracted natural gas pipeline assets. NextEra Energy Partners, LP was incorporated in 2014 and is based in Juno Beach, Florida.