NextDecade Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:NEXT)

NextDecade Corporation (NASDAQ:NEXT) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Traders purchased 55,831 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 461% compared to the typical daily volume of 9,949 call options.

NextDecade Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NEXT opened at $9.12 on Friday. NextDecade has a 12 month low of $4.75 and a 12 month high of $12.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.81 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $7.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $6.16.

NextDecade (NASDAQ:NEXT) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.88) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.68) by ($0.20). Analysts expect that NextDecade will post -2.16 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NextDecade news, Director Pamela K.M. Beall purchased 71,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $7.07 per share, for a total transaction of $505,505.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 71,500 shares in the company, valued at $505,505. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of NextDecade by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 122,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $829,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in NextDecade by 88.0% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 4,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,900 shares in the last quarter. Inscription Capital LLC lifted its holdings in NextDecade by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Inscription Capital LLC now owns 15,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 2,172 shares in the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lifted its holdings in NextDecade by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 644,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,936,000 after purchasing an additional 2,235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in NextDecade by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 20,222 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,000 after purchasing an additional 2,686 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.74% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on NEXT shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of NextDecade from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of NextDecade in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $11.00 price target on the stock. Capital One Financial started coverage on shares of NextDecade in a report on Friday, February 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $7.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of NextDecade from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of NextDecade from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $8.00.

NextDecade Company Profile

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.