NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the fifteen brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $84.46.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on NEE. Erste Group Bank upgraded NextEra Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $97.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $73.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NEE stock traded up $0.55 on Friday, hitting $67.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 19,474,026 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,815,577. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $138.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. NextEra Energy has a fifty-two week low of $61.72 and a fifty-two week high of $86.10. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $69.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.92.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99. The firm had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.58 billion. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 28.06%. Research analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.5665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. This is a boost from NextEra Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. NextEra Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NextEra Energy

In other news, CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total value of $162,258.47. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,427 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,867,504.43. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 bought and sold shares of the business. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its position in NextEra Energy by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 299,215 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,293,000 after acquiring an additional 5,409 shares in the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. increased its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 3.1% in the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 21,790 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,842,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Wealthquest Corp raised its position in NextEra Energy by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wealthquest Corp now owns 9,829 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $838,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Financial Inc. bought a new position in NextEra Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $742,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 52,178 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,411,000 after buying an additional 2,252 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company's stock.

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.