NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Raised to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on NEE. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a sector outperform rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays initiated coverage on NextEra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an equal weight rating and a $66.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho increased their target price on NextEra Energy from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $74.00 price target on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, NextEra Energy presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $71.50.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:NEE opened at $70.14 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $62.00 and its 200 day moving average is $59.58. The company has a market cap of $144.10 billion, a PE ratio of 19.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.43. NextEra Energy has a 1 year low of $47.15 and a 1 year high of $78.53.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $5.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.84 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 26th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.13%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NextEra Energy

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of NEE. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 198,430,172 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,368,065,000 after purchasing an additional 1,956,153 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $2,561,055,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,982,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,316,653,000 after buying an additional 455,271 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,782,674 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $654,940,000 after buying an additional 429,979 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.4% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,026,464 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $517,126,000 after acquiring an additional 209,584 shares during the period. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.