Morgan Stanley Cuts NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Price Target to $94.00

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) had its target price trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $94.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

NEE has been the topic of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price 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. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $89.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.15.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

NYSE NEE opened at $66.29 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The company has a market cap of $136.47 billion, a PE ratio of 19.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. NextEra Energy has a 52 week low of $61.72 and a 52 week high of $86.10. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.30.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 28.06% and a return on equity of 11.85%. Research analysts predict that NextEra Energy will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.5665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This is a boost from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.06%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total transaction of $162,258.47. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,427 shares in the company, valued at $1,867,504.43. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Accel Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Accel Wealth Management now owns 8,615 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $618,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company grew its position in NextEra Energy by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company now owns 15,353 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,101,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. 1ST Source Bank increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 34,178 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,889,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in NextEra Energy by 8.3% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC now owns 11,666 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $836,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

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.