NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Price Target Raised to $72.00 at BMO Capital Markets

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) had its price target hoisted by BMO Capital Markets from $70.00 to $72.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on NEE. Scotiabank increased their price objective on NextEra Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a sector outperform rating in a report on Monday. StockNews.com raised NextEra Energy from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday. Bank of America increased their price target on NextEra Energy from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday. Guggenheim increased their price target on NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Barclays began coverage on NextEra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an equal weight rating and a $66.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $71.50.

NextEra Energy Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:NEE opened at $66.85 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $137.35 billion, a PE ratio of 18.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $60.67 and a 200-day moving average of $58.94. NextEra Energy has a 52 week low of $47.15 and a 52 week high of $78.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.11. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 27.62%. The company had revenue of $5.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that NextEra Energy will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 27th were paid a $0.515 dividend. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 26th. This is a boost from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.13%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NextEra Energy

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GSG Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.6% in the first quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 6,509 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $407,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the period. Greenfield Savings Bank raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Greenfield Savings Bank now owns 32,220 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,957,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 22.7% in the fourth quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 930 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. MKT Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. MKT Advisors LLC now owns 6,233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $387,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meritage Portfolio Management raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 3.9% in the third quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 4,701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $269,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.