Mizuho Raises NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Price Target to $71.00

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) had its target price hoisted by Mizuho from $67.00 to $71.00 in a report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a sector outperform rating in a report on Monday. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $66.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $71.21.

NextEra Energy Trading Up 0.5 %

NEE opened at $66.56 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $136.61 billion, a PE ratio of 18.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $60.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.47. NextEra Energy has a 12-month low of $47.15 and a 12-month high of $79.10.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $5.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.28 billion. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The firm’s revenue was down 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that NextEra Energy will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.515 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 26th. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.09%. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.13%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Summit Financial LLC increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 2.5% in the first quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 49,713 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,177,000 after acquiring an additional 1,215 shares during the period. Polaris Capital Management LLC increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 42.0% in the first quarter. Polaris Capital Management LLC now owns 523,464 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,455,000 after acquiring an additional 154,900 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 126.8% in the first quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 15,028 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $960,000 after acquiring an additional 8,403 shares during the period. Alta Advisers Ltd increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 7.8% in the first quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd now owns 5,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $352,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Berkshire Bank increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 3.8% in the first quarter. Berkshire Bank now owns 48,159 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,078,000 after acquiring an additional 1,776 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.