NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Price Target Raised to $72.00 at BMO Capital Markets

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) had its target price raised by BMO Capital Markets from $70.00 to $72.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on NEE. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $74.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $66.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of NextEra Energy from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday. 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 research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $71.50.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:NEE opened at $66.85 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $137.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.23, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $60.67 and its 200-day moving average is $58.94. NextEra Energy has a 52-week low of $47.15 and a 52-week high of $78.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.51.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.11. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The company had revenue of $5.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.84 earnings per share. NextEra Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 26th. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is presently 56.13%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NextEra Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 387.2% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 458 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 59.8% in the 3rd quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in NextEra Energy by 315.4% during the fourth quarter. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. now owns 540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in NextEra Energy during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.