NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Upgraded to “Hold” by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Monday morning.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $68.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $74.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Mizuho reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $67.00 price objective (up from $65.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Friday, March 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, NextEra Energy presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $69.93.

NextEra Energy Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NextEra Energy stock opened at $65.31 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market cap of $134.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.51. NextEra Energy has a 12-month low of $47.15 and a 12-month high of $79.25. The business’s 50 day moving average is $60.04 and its 200-day moving average is $58.72.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.72 billion. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.73% and a net margin of 26.00%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that NextEra Energy will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.515 per share. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 26th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 57.06%.

Institutional Trading of NextEra Energy

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Avitas Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 37,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,299,000 after buying an additional 1,057 shares during the last quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc lifted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 35,180 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,137,000 after buying an additional 2,899 shares during the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 383,932 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $21,995,000 after buying an additional 6,325 shares during the last quarter. Asio Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter worth $2,701,000. Finally, Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,015,000 after buying an additional 1,211 shares during the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.