NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Upgraded at Erste Group Bank

Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on NEE. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $96.00 price target (up from $84.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $103.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners dropped their price target on NextEra Energy from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NextEra Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.05.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NEE stock opened at $92.07 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $191.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.76. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $84.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $80.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.49. NextEra Energy has a 1-year low of $61.72 and a 1-year high of $95.56.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $6.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.07 billion. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 24.93% and a return on equity of 12.18%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be paid a $0.6232 dividend. This represents a $2.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. This is a boost from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $2,700,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 167,481 shares in the company, valued at $15,073,290. This represents a 15.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John W. Ketchum sold 99,603 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.34, for a total transaction of $8,898,532.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 305,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,332,054.22. The trade was a 24.56% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 159,049 shares of company stock valued at $14,194,542 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 216,033,697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,343,185,000 after buying an additional 2,234,176 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 47,272,019 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,781,790,000 after buying an additional 966,152 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter worth $2,816,327,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 18,365,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,474,407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,136,074 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 17,281,357 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,387,347,000 after buying an additional 485,854 shares during the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About NextEra Energy

NextEra Energy, Inc (NYSE: NEE), headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida, is a leading clean energy company with both regulated utility operations and competitive renewable generation businesses. The company’s principal operating subsidiaries include Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), a regulated electric utility serving customers in Florida, and NextEra Energy Resources, which develops, constructs, owns and operates a large portfolio of wind, solar and energy storage projects. Together these businesses provide electricity supply, transmission and distribution services as well as utility-scale renewable generation and related services.

NextEra’s activities cover the full lifecycle of power assets, from project development and construction to operation, maintenance and asset optimization.