NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $95.56 and last traded at $94.2970, with a volume of 775881 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $93.80.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on NEE shares. Mizuho set a $90.00 price objective on NextEra Energy and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Seaport Research Partners cut their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. HSBC lifted their target price on NextEra Energy from $94.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th. BMO Capital Markets set a $95.00 price target on NextEra Energy in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Argus set a $92.00 price objective on NextEra Energy and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.95.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $194.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a 50 day moving average of $83.88 and a 200-day moving average of $80.41.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.01. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 24.93% and a return on equity of 12.18%. The business had revenue of $6.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. NextEra Energy’s revenue was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.6232 per share. This is a boost from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $2.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 69.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Ronald R. Reagan sold 18,620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $1,675,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 9,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $867,870. This represents a 65.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles E. Sieving sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $2,700,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 167,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,073,290. This trade represents a 15.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 159,049 shares of company stock worth $14,194,542. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NextEra Energy

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wedbush Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 24.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 64,158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,843,000 after purchasing an additional 12,738 shares during the last quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its position in NextEra Energy by 5.0% during the third quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 326,193 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,624,000 after acquiring an additional 15,600 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,845,447 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $365,783,000 after acquiring an additional 60,324 shares during the last quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 286.0% in the 3rd quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 22,028 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,594,000 after acquiring an additional 16,322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daymark Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 45,015 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,125,000 after purchasing an additional 2,767 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NextEra Energy Company Profile

NextEra Energy, Inc (NYSE: NEE), headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida, is a leading clean energy company with both regulated utility operations and competitive renewable generation businesses. The company’s principal operating subsidiaries include Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), a regulated electric utility serving customers in Florida, and NextEra Energy Resources, which develops, constructs, owns and operates a large portfolio of wind, solar and energy storage projects. Together these businesses provide electricity supply, transmission and distribution services as well as utility-scale renewable generation and related services.

NextEra’s activities cover the full lifecycle of power assets, from project development and construction to operation, maintenance and asset optimization.