NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Lowered to Hold at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) from a moderate buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Tuesday, Zacks.com reports.

NEE has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $69.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Dbs Bank lowered shares of NextEra Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $87.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $73.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.38.

NextEra Energy Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of NEE opened at $82.82 on Tuesday. NextEra Energy has a 52 week low of $53.81 and a 52 week high of $86.10. The firm has a market cap of $170.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $82.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.49.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.05. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 24.45% and a return on equity of 11.75%. The business had revenue of $7.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. NextEra Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that NextEra Energy will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.13%.

Insider Transactions at NextEra Energy

In related news, EVP Nicole J. Daggs sold 658 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.97, for a total value of $50,646.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,697. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of NextEra Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NEE. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. boosted its position in NextEra Energy by 64.0% in the second quarter. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. now owns 369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in NextEra Energy by 197.4% in the second quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new stake in NextEra Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in NextEra Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the second quarter worth $40,000. 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.