NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Barclays

Barclays started coverage on shares of NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) in a research note released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued an equal weight rating and a $66.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on NEE. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and set a $74.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $76.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Mizuho restated a buy rating and issued a $67.00 price target (up from $65.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Friday, March 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of NextEra Energy from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Monday, February 19th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $72.00.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NEE opened at $64.01 on Wednesday. NextEra Energy has a twelve month low of $47.15 and a twelve month high of $79.78. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.33. The company has a market capitalization of $131.37 billion, a PE ratio of 17.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.03. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 26.00% and a return on equity of 11.73%. The business had revenue of $6.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.72 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that NextEra Energy will post 3.44 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.515 per share. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 26th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.06%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Country Trust Bank lifted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 975.6% during the third quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC raised its position in NextEra Energy by 387.2% in the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 458 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 364 shares during the period. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in NextEra Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. raised its position in NextEra Energy by 315.4% in the fourth quarter. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the period. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.