NextDecade Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:NEXT)

NextDecade Corporation (NASDAQ:NEXT) saw some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders acquired 24,450 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 142% compared to the typical daily volume of 10,106 call options.

NextDecade Price Performance

NEXT traded up $0.10 on Friday, hitting $5.37. 1,721,239 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,820,259. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.34, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.42 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.35 and a beta of 1.90. NextDecade has a fifty-two week low of $4.99 and a fifty-two week high of $12.12. The business’s fifty day moving average is $5.92 and its 200 day moving average is $8.06.

NextDecade (NASDAQ:NEXT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported ($0.42) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.32) by ($0.10). As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that NextDecade will post -0.61 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Aerospace Co. Ltd. Hanwha bought 800,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $5.54 per share, for a total transaction of $4,432,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 26,420,222 shares in the company, valued at $146,368,029.88. The trade was a 3.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders bought a total of 8,179,190 shares of company stock worth $49,406,022 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NextDecade

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NEXT. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in NextDecade by 137.2% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 1,886 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its position in NextDecade by 22,782.4% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 3,873 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of NextDecade in the third quarter worth $29,000. Comerica Bank grew its position in shares of NextDecade by 88.0% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 4,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC boosted its position in shares of NextDecade by 102.2% in the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 3,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 2,002 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 66.74% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NEXT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of NextDecade in a research note on Monday. Zacks Research upgraded NextDecade from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $10.00 price objective (down previously from $15.00) on shares of NextDecade in a report on Friday, September 12th. Cowen cut shares of NextDecade from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of NextDecade from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $8.50.

NextDecade Company Profile

NextDecade Corporation is a Houston‐based liquefied natural gas (LNG) and decarbonization company focused on the development, engineering, construction and operation of large‐scale LNG export facilities. The company’s core mission is to deliver cleaner energy solutions to global customers while integrating carbon capture and sequestration technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. NextDecade’s projects are designed to leverage abundant U.S. natural gas supplies to meet growing worldwide demand for low‐carbon fuel.

NextDecade’s flagship project, Rio Grande LNG, is located at the Port of Brownsville in southern Texas.