Zacks Research Downgrades Nextpower (NASDAQ:NXT) to Hold

Nextpower (NASDAQ:NXT) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

NXT has been the subject of several other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $168.00 target price on shares of Nextpower in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Barclays lifted their price objective on Nextpower from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Nextpower in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Loop Capital set a $135.00 target price on shares of Nextpower in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Nextpower from $142.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $146.12.

Nextpower Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NXT opened at $103.67 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $15.73 billion, a PE ratio of 26.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.95. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $110.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.50. Nextpower has a one year low of $52.61 and a one year high of $163.13.

Nextpower (NASDAQ:NXT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.15. Nextpower had a return on equity of 26.29% and a net margin of 16.36%.The firm had revenue of $935.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $935.39 million. Equities research analysts predict that Nextpower will post 3.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Nextpower news, CEO Daniel S. Shugar sold 67,636 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.07, for a total value of $6,971,242.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 871,131 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,787,472.17. The trade was a 7.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Charles D. Boynton sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.79, for a total transaction of $683,055.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 358,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,416,715. The trade was a 1.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 249,675 shares of company stock worth $30,924,570 over the last ninety days. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Signature Equity Partners LLC lifted its position in Nextpower by 76.4% during the first quarter. Signature Equity Partners LLC now owns 261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Nextpower by 107.6% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Nextpower by 268.7% during the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 306 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Nextpower by 480.3% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Nextpower during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.41% of the company’s stock.

Nextpower Company Profile

Nextpower, formerly known as Nextracker, is traded on NASDAQ under the symbol NXT and is a leading provider of advanced solar tracking solutions for utility-scale and distributed energy projects. The company specializes in the design, engineering and manufacturing of single-axis tracker systems that optimize the capture of solar energy by following the sun’s trajectory throughout the day. Nextpower’s core hardware offerings aim to enhance energy yield, reduce balance-of-system costs and simplify installation and maintenance for downstream solar developers and operators.

In addition to its tracker hardware, Nextpower provides a suite of digital software and analytics tools to maximize asset performance.