NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE:NEP) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.89 Per Share

NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE:NEP) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 23rd, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be paid a dividend of 0.8925 per share by the solar energy provider on Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.55%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. This is a boost from NextEra Energy Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88.

NextEra Energy Partners has increased its dividend payment by an average of 14.3% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 10 consecutive years. NextEra Energy Partners has a dividend payout ratio of 199.4% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities analysts expect NextEra Energy Partners to earn $0.86 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $3.57 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 415.1%.

NextEra Energy Partners Stock Up 4.5 %

NEP stock opened at $30.91 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.13 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50-day moving average of $28.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.72. NextEra Energy Partners has a 52-week low of $20.17 and a 52-week high of $63.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.31.

NextEra Energy Partners (NYSE:NEP) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The solar energy provider reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.63. The firm had revenue of $257.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $331.78 million. NextEra Energy Partners had a negative return on equity of 0.48% and a net margin of 23.55%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.17) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy Partners will post 1.54 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NEP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of NextEra Energy Partners from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. CIBC downgraded NextEra Energy Partners from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Barclays started coverage on NextEra Energy Partners in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $32.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on NextEra Energy Partners from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Marathon Capitl reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of NextEra Energy Partners in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy Partners presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.60.

About NextEra Energy Partners

NextEra Energy Partners, LP acquires, owns, and manages contracted clean energy projects in the United States. It owns a portfolio of contracted renewable generation assets consisting of wind, solar, and battery storage projects. The company owns contracted natural gas pipeline assets. NextEra Energy Partners, LP was incorporated in 2014 and is based in Juno Beach, Florida.