Barclays Trims NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Target Price to $73.00

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) had its price target trimmed by Barclays from $74.00 to $73.00 in a report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on NextEra Energy from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of NextEra Energy from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on NextEra Energy from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $74.86.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NextEra Energy stock opened at $73.06 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $150.10 billion, a PE ratio of 19.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.56. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $63.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. NextEra Energy has a 12-month low of $47.15 and a 12-month high of $80.47.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $5.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.28 billion. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 27.62%. NextEra Energy’s revenue was down 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.84 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that NextEra Energy will post 3.39 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 3rd. NextEra Energy’s payout ratio is 56.13%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NextEra Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NEE. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. raised its position in NextEra Energy by 134.1% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. now owns 10,068 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $577,000 after buying an additional 5,767 shares during the last quarter. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $678,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 274.9% during the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 209,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,023,000 after purchasing an additional 153,877 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 11.6% in the third quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 206,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,816,000 after purchasing an additional 21,377 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Phoenix Holdings Ltd. grew its position in NextEra Energy by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Phoenix Holdings Ltd. now owns 85,368 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,891,000 after purchasing an additional 1,572 shares during the period. 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.