NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Price Target Raised to $79.00 at Morgan Stanley

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) had its price objective upped by Morgan Stanley from $77.00 to $79.00 in a research note released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Barclays began coverage on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $66.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $68.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Guggenheim upped their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $74.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $71.21.

NextEra Energy Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE NEE opened at $66.56 on Monday. NextEra Energy has a 1-year low of $47.15 and a 1-year high of $79.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The company has a market capitalization of $136.61 billion, a PE ratio of 18.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.89.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.11. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 26.00% and a return on equity of 11.73%. The business had revenue of $5.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.84 earnings per share. NextEra Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.515 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 26th. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.09%. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.06%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Polaris Capital Management LLC raised its position in NextEra Energy by 42.0% in the first quarter. Polaris Capital Management LLC now owns 523,464 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,455,000 after purchasing an additional 154,900 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position in NextEra Energy by 126.8% in the first quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 15,028 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $960,000 after purchasing an additional 8,403 shares in the last quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd raised its position in NextEra Energy by 7.8% in the first quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd now owns 5,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $352,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Bank raised its position in NextEra Energy by 3.8% in the first quarter. Berkshire Bank now owns 48,159 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,078,000 after purchasing an additional 1,776 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in NextEra Energy in the first quarter worth about $214,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

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.