NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) Receives $71.50 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and eleven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $71.50.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NEE. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $66.00 target price for the company. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $74.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NextEra Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NEE. Avitas Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in NextEra Energy by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 37,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,299,000 after acquiring an additional 1,057 shares during the last quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc lifted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 35,180 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,137,000 after purchasing an additional 2,899 shares during the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 1.7% in the third quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 383,932 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $21,995,000 after purchasing an additional 6,325 shares in the last quarter. Asio Capital LLC acquired a new position in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $2,701,000. Finally, AJOVista LLC bought a new stake in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $162,000. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NEE opened at $70.14 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $144.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.50. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.66. NextEra Energy has a 52 week low of $47.15 and a 52 week high of $78.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $5.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.28 billion. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 27.62%. The firm’s revenue was down 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.84 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that NextEra Energy will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 26th. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.13%.

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.