NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE:NEP) Increases Dividend to $0.89 Per Share

NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE:NEP) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 24th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be given a dividend of 0.8925 per share by the solar energy provider on Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.05%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. This is a boost from NextEra Energy Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88.

NextEra Energy Partners has raised its dividend payment by an average of 14.3% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 10 consecutive years. NextEra Energy Partners has a payout ratio of 345.1% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities research analysts expect NextEra Energy Partners to earn $0.92 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $3.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 382.6%.

NextEra Energy Partners Price Performance

Shares of NextEra Energy Partners stock opened at $29.62 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.71 and a beta of 1.00. NextEra Energy Partners has a 12 month low of $20.17 and a 12 month high of $63.89.

NextEra Energy Partners (NYSE:NEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The solar energy provider reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.63. NextEra Energy Partners had a negative return on equity of 0.48% and a net margin of 23.55%. The firm had revenue of $257.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $331.78 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.17) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that NextEra Energy Partners will post 0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NEP. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of NextEra Energy Partners in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James dropped their price target on NextEra Energy Partners from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on NextEra Energy Partners from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Barclays assumed coverage on NextEra Energy Partners in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $32.00 target price for the company. Finally, Marathon Capitl reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of NextEra Energy Partners in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.88.

About NextEra Energy Partners

NextEra Energy Partners, LP acquires, owns, and manages contracted clean energy projects in the United States. It owns a portfolio of contracted renewable generation assets consisting of wind, solar, and battery storage projects. The company owns contracted natural gas pipeline assets. NextEra Energy Partners, LP was incorporated in 2014 and is based in Juno Beach, Florida.