NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE:NEP) Short Interest Update

NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE:NEP) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,520,000 shares, a decrease of 33.0% from the October 31st total of 5,250,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,850,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on NEP shares. CIBC cut their target price on NextEra Energy Partners from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised NextEra Energy Partners from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $25.00 to $22.00 in a report on Thursday, October 24th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on NextEra Energy Partners from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on NextEra Energy Partners from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on NextEra Energy Partners in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $15.00 price target on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.69.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NextEra Energy Partners

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NEP. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy Partners in the 3rd quarter valued at $16,186,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy Partners in the 3rd quarter valued at $15,310,000. M&G PLC increased its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy Partners by 19.3% in the 3rd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 3,062,083 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $85,738,000 after acquiring an additional 496,383 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy Partners in the 1st quarter valued at $9,927,000. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy Partners in the 2nd quarter valued at $5,452,000. 66.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

NextEra Energy Partners Price Performance

NYSE NEP traded up $0.02 during trading on Friday, hitting $17.49. 692,904 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,575,181. The company has a market capitalization of $1.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.01 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. NextEra Energy Partners has a 12-month low of $15.55 and a 12-month high of $35.15.

NextEra Energy Partners (NYSE:NEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The solar energy provider reported ($0.43) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.94). The company had revenue of $319.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $332.25 million. NextEra Energy Partners had a net margin of 17.47% and a negative return on equity of 1.07%. NextEra Energy Partners’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.57 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that NextEra Energy Partners will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th were paid a dividend of $0.9175 per share. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 20.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. NextEra Energy Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 168.35%.

About NextEra Energy Partners

NextEra Energy Partners, LP acquires, owns, and manages contracted clean energy projects in the United States. It owns a portfolio of contracted renewable generation assets consisting of wind, solar, and battery storage projects. The company owns contracted natural gas pipeline assets. NextEra Energy Partners, LP was incorporated in 2014 and is based in Juno Beach, Florida.