NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $85.92.

NEE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $89.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th.

NextEra Energy Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NEE stock opened at $70.44 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $70.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. NextEra Energy has a fifty-two week low of $61.31 and a fifty-two week high of $86.10. The stock has a market cap of $144.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58.

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

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.5665 dividend. This is a boost from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 67.06%.

Insider Transactions at NextEra Energy

In other news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total value of $162,258.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,867,504.43. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NextEra Energy

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,484,197,000. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $244,169,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP bought a new position in NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $240,269,000. Amundi increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 49.8% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 9,543,552 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $676,008,000 after purchasing an additional 3,172,405 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 46.7% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 7,910,346 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $567,093,000 after buying an additional 2,517,369 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.