NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Raised to Hold at StockNews.com

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Monday.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on NEE. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $74.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Scotiabank upped their target price on NextEra Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Mizuho reissued a “buy” rating and set a $67.00 price target (up from $65.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price target on NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, NextEra Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.93.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:NEE traded up $1.01 on Monday, hitting $65.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 14,744,498 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,908,980. NextEra Energy has a one year low of $47.15 and a one year high of $79.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $134.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $60.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.03. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.73% and a net margin of 26.00%. The business had revenue of $6.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.72 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.51 EPS. Research analysts predict that NextEra Energy will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NextEra Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC raised its stake in NextEra Energy by 16.7% during the third quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 10,866 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $623,000 after acquiring an additional 1,551 shares in the last quarter. Ziegler Capital Management LLC increased its position in NextEra Energy by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ziegler Capital Management LLC now owns 128,364 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,354,000 after purchasing an additional 3,817 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in NextEra Energy by 56.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 76,066 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,358,000 after purchasing an additional 27,592 shares during the last quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC boosted its position in NextEra Energy by 8.8% in the third quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 31,701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,816,000 after buying an additional 2,570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 17.7% during the third quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,468,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $84,049,000 after buying an additional 221,310 shares during the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.