NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Price Target Raised to $78.00

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) had its target price upped by BMO Capital Markets from $72.00 to $78.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on NEE. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $74.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of NextEra Energy from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $66.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on NextEra Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a sector outperform rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, NextEra Energy presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $71.93.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE NEE opened at $71.95 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $147.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.60, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.50. 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 has a twelve month low of $47.15 and a twelve month high of $78.53. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.94.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $5.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.28 billion. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 27.62%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.84 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were issued a $0.515 dividend. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 26th. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is presently 56.13%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 19.4% in the first quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 4,657 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 757 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in NextEra Energy by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 162,124 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,361,000 after buying an additional 5,140 shares during the last quarter. Watershed Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $218,000. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.3% in the first quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. now owns 29,357 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,876,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares during the period. Finally, Delta Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the first quarter valued at about $440,000. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

NextEra Energy Company Profile

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.