Wolfe Research Lowers NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Price Target to $87.00

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) had its price target reduced by research analysts at Wolfe Research from $94.00 to $87.00 in a report released on Thursday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Wolfe Research’s target price indicates a potential upside of 3.77% from the company’s current price.

NEE has been the subject of a number of other research reports. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $85.00 target price (up from $77.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Barclays set a $88.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Cowen assumed coverage on NextEra Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on NextEra Energy from $78.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.53.

NextEra Energy Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:NEE traded down $0.15 on Thursday, hitting $83.84. 8,352,021 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,353,095. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $79.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $74.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $174.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.69. NextEra Energy has a 52 week low of $61.72 and a 52 week high of $87.53.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.09. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 24.72% and a return on equity of 12.42%. The company had revenue of $7.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. NextEra Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that NextEra Energy will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Mark Lemasney sold 846 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.90, for a total value of $63,365.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 9,267 shares in the company, valued at $694,098.30. This trade represents a 8.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 11,336 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $906,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 167,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,398,480. This trade represents a 6.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,028 shares of company stock worth $1,738,973. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of NextEra Energy

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in NextEra Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,375,545,000. GQG Partners LLC increased its position in NextEra Energy by 58.4% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 17,236,502 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,221,896,000 after purchasing an additional 6,352,798 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 212,877,021 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,777,923,000 after buying an additional 5,554,603 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in NextEra Energy by 1,765.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,968,305 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $299,567,000 after buying an additional 3,755,563 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in NextEra Energy by 20.7% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,446,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,165,748,000 after buying an additional 2,815,629 shares during the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.