NextEra Energy Partners (NYSE:NEP) Trading 0.6% Higher

NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE:NEP)’s stock price traded up 0.6% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $27.03 and last traded at $26.95. 333,906 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 1,418,792 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.80.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of NextEra Energy Partners from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $31.00 to $20.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of NextEra Energy Partners from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $38.00 to $30.00 in a report on Monday, July 1st. Wolfe Research lowered shares of NextEra Energy Partners from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of NextEra Energy Partners from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of NextEra Energy Partners from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.67.

NextEra Energy Partners Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.53 billion, a PE ratio of 8.84 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.22.

NextEra Energy Partners (NYSE:NEP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The solar energy provider reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $360.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $365.54 million. NextEra Energy Partners had a net margin of 24.42% and a negative return on equity of 0.40%. NextEra Energy Partners’s revenue was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy Partners, LP will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Partners Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were given a dividend of $0.905 per share. This represents a $3.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. This is an increase from NextEra Energy Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. NextEra Energy Partners’s payout ratio is currently 118.69%.

Institutional Trading of NextEra Energy Partners

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy Partners in the 1st quarter valued at $83,069,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy Partners by 599.4% in the 4th quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,602,485 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $79,142,000 after acquiring an additional 2,230,374 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank purchased a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy Partners in the 1st quarter valued at $15,597,000. Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy Partners in the 4th quarter valued at $14,269,000. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy Partners in the 1st quarter valued at $9,927,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.01% of the company’s stock.

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.