NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Trading Up 1.6% Following Earnings Beat

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) shares were up 1.6% on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $73.60 and last traded at $73.29. Approximately 3,031,657 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 11,635,524 shares. The stock had previously closed at $72.11.

The utilities provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.03. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.75% and a net margin of 24.45%. The company had revenue of $6.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share.

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th will be issued a $0.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on NextEra Energy from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on NextEra Energy from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Barclays boosted their price objective on NextEra Energy from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on NextEra Energy from $76.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on NextEra Energy from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BCK Partners Inc. raised its position in NextEra Energy by 3.8% in the second quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 3,687 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Renasant Bank raised its position in NextEra Energy by 1.0% in the first quarter. Renasant Bank now owns 14,614 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $934,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in NextEra Energy by 1.8% in the first quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,029 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $513,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. raised its position in NextEra Energy by 64.0% in the second quarter. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. now owns 369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Finally, NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its position in NextEra Energy by 1.0% in the second quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 15,194 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,076,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 1.1 %

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $152.55 billion, a PE ratio of 20.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.54.

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.