NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Trading 0.2% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)’s share price was up 0.2% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $76.00 to $80.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. NextEra Energy traded as high as $84.81 and last traded at $84.69. Approximately 1,911,806 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 10,882,150 shares. The stock had previously closed at $84.53.

NEE has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $69.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NextEra Energy news, EVP Nicole J. Daggs sold 658 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.97, for a total transaction of $50,646.26. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,697. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NextEra Energy

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NEE. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. grew its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 64.0% during the 2nd quarter. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. now owns 369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 197.4% during the 2nd quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. American Capital Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 74.5% during the 1st quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 480 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the period. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.49. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $79.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.57. The company has a market capitalization of $175.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.56.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.03. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.75% and a net margin of 24.45%. The business had revenue of $6.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were given a $0.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.41%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.13%.

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.