NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Hits New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $95.56 and last traded at $94.2970, with a volume of 775881 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $93.80.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NEE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wolfe Research raised their price target on NextEra Energy from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. HSBC upped their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $87.00 price target on NextEra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners dropped their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.95.

NextEra Energy Trading Down 0.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $83.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $80.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $194.87 billion, a PE ratio of 28.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.75.

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

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at NextEra Energy

In other NextEra Energy news, CEO John W. Ketchum sold 99,603 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.34, for a total value of $8,898,532.02. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 305,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,332,054.22. This represents a 24.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $2,700,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 167,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,073,290. This represents a 15.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 159,049 shares of company stock worth $14,194,542. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NextEra Energy

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.0% during 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in NextEra Energy by 2.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 966,152 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in NextEra Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,816,327,000. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 17,281,357 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,387,347,000 after purchasing an additional 485,854 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,220,630 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,382,473,000 after purchasing an additional 253,273 shares during the period. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NextEra Energy Company Profile

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.