NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Given Buy Rating at Guggenheim

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by equities researchers at Guggenheim in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $89.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock. Guggenheim’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 24.89% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.69.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NextEra Energy stock opened at $71.26 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.66. NextEra Energy has a 1-year low of $61.29 and a 1-year high of $86.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market cap of $146.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.13, 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 for the quarter, hitting 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 expect that NextEra Energy will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total transaction of $162,258.47. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,427 shares in the company, valued at $1,867,504.43. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NextEra Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NEE. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter worth $3,484,197,000. Boston Partners purchased a new position in NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter worth $244,169,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP purchased a new position in NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter worth $240,269,000. Amundi grew its position in NextEra Energy by 49.8% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 9,543,552 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $676,008,000 after purchasing an additional 3,172,405 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position in NextEra Energy by 46.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,517,369 shares during the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.