NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $99.00 to $90.00. The stock had previously closed at $73.83, but opened at $72.33. NextEra Energy shares last traded at $71.14, with a volume of 2,160,716 shares trading hands.

NEE has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Guggenheim increased their target price on NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $82.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered NextEra Energy from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Nicole J. Daggs sold 4,007 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.57, for a total transaction of $302,808.99. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,193,401.44. This represents a 20.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NextEra Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NEE. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in NextEra Energy by 195.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 20,982 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,486,000 after purchasing an additional 13,886 shares during the period. Regal Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 11.0% during the second quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,503 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $248,000 after buying an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its position in NextEra Energy by 14.8% during the second quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 11,755 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $831,000 after buying an additional 1,511 shares during the period. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in NextEra Energy during the second quarter valued at $316,000. Finally, SPC Financial Inc. lifted its stake in NextEra Energy by 39.0% in the 2nd quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 10,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $713,000 after acquiring an additional 2,828 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $144.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $77.18.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 26.49% and a return on equity of 11.94%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.