NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Upgraded by TD Cowen to “Strong-Buy” Rating

TD Cowen upgraded shares of NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Evercore ISI set a $92.00 price target on NextEra Energy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price objective (down from $96.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $85.00 target price (up previously from $77.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.40.

NextEra Energy Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NEE opened at $85.00 on Wednesday. NextEra Energy has a 12-month low of $61.72 and a 12-month high of $86.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $75.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The utilities provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.04. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 22.84% and a return on equity of 12.31%. The company had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.96 EPS. NextEra Energy’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that NextEra Energy will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 28th were paid a $0.5665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 28th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NextEra Energy

In other NextEra Energy news, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 11,336 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $906,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 167,481 shares in the company, valued at $13,398,480. This represents a 6.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Michael Dunne sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.79, for a total transaction of $707,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 62,064 shares in the company, valued at $4,393,510.56. The trade was a 13.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 32,705 shares of company stock valued at $2,446,490. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NextEra Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Avity Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in NextEra Energy by 1.7% in the second quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc. now owns 506,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,162,000 after purchasing an additional 8,565 shares during the last quarter. Integrity Alliance LLC. grew its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 41.8% in the 1st quarter. Integrity Alliance LLC. now owns 25,092 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,779,000 after buying an additional 7,401 shares during the last quarter. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in NextEra Energy during the 1st quarter worth $783,000. Czech National Bank lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 6.5% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 503,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,932,000 after acquiring an additional 30,878 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bowman & Co S.C. boosted its stake in NextEra Energy by 2.0% in the second quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. now owns 13,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $933,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

About NextEra Energy

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.