NextDecade (NASDAQ:NEXT) Trading Down 4.6% – Here’s Why

NextDecade Corporation (NASDAQ:NEXT) fell 4.6% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $5.17 and last traded at $5.1330. 231,528 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 1,403,640 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.38.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Cowen downgraded NextDecade from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of NextDecade in a research note on Monday, December 29th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on NextDecade from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Zacks Research raised shares of NextDecade from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $10.00 price target (down previously from $15.00) on shares of NextDecade in a research report on Friday, September 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NextDecade presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $8.50.

NextDecade Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $5.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $7.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.35 billion, a PE ratio of -7.02 and a beta of 1.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.34.

NextDecade (NASDAQ:NEXT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported ($0.42) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.32) by ($0.10). Research analysts anticipate that NextDecade Corporation will post -0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Aerospace Co. Ltd. Hanwha purchased 851,971 shares of NextDecade stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $5.83 per share, with a total value of $4,966,990.93. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 25,620,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $149,365,894.26. This represents a 3.44% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders purchased a total of 7,177,861 shares of company stock worth $42,393,247 in the last ninety days. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NEXT. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in NextDecade by 22,782.4% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 3,873 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of NextDecade in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Comerica Bank increased its position in NextDecade by 88.0% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 4,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 1,900 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in NextDecade by 102.2% during the 2nd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 3,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 2,002 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of NextDecade in the second quarter worth $36,000. 66.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About NextDecade

NextDecade Corporation is a Houston‐based liquefied natural gas (LNG) and decarbonization company focused on the development, engineering, construction and operation of large‐scale LNG export facilities. The company’s core mission is to deliver cleaner energy solutions to global customers while integrating carbon capture and sequestration technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. NextDecade’s projects are designed to leverage abundant U.S. natural gas supplies to meet growing worldwide demand for low‐carbon fuel.

NextDecade’s flagship project, Rio Grande LNG, is located at the Port of Brownsville in southern Texas.