NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Share Price Breaks Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) shares crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $87.23 and traded as high as $88.79. NextEra Energy shares last traded at $88.3660, with a volume of 27,509,679 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $110.00 price objective on NextEra Energy and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded NextEra Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 17th. Seaport Research Partners restated a “sell” rating and set a $56.00 target price (up from $55.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Mizuho decreased their price target on NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded NextEra Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.80.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $80.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.23.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The utilities provider reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $8.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.47 billion. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 40.37% and a return on equity of 12.27%. NextEra Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. Analysts expect that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.6232 per share. This represents a $2.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 27th. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is currently 44.86%.

Institutional Trading of NextEra Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NEE. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in NextEra Energy by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 593,568 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,097,000 after purchasing an additional 26,378 shares during the period. Annex Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 711,009 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $62,405,000 after purchasing an additional 86,585 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 4.1% in the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 544,574 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,797,000 after purchasing an additional 21,569 shares in the last quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 5.7% in the second quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc. now owns 500,576 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,936,000 after purchasing an additional 26,848 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CV Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy in the second quarter valued at about $1,404,000. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About NextEra Energy

NextEra Energy, Inc is an energy infrastructure company headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida. Through its businesses, the company generates, transmits, distributes and sells electricity, with a focus on regulated utility operations and clean energy development.

Florida Power & Light Company, NextEra Energy’s principal regulated utility, serves customers across much of Florida. FPL operates electric generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure and provides retail electricity service to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

NextEra Energy Resources develops, owns and operates renewable energy and energy storage projects, including wind and solar facilities.