NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Upgraded at StockNews.com

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Thursday.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on NEE. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Mizuho boosted their target price on NextEra Energy from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Guggenheim raised their price target on NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Barclays started coverage on NextEra Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $66.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.50.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NEE stock opened at $70.14 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $61.74 and its 200 day moving average is $59.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $144.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.11, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.50. NextEra Energy has a 12 month low of $47.15 and a 12 month high of $78.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.11. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 27.62%. The company had revenue of $5.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NextEra Energy

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Financial Group LLC bought a new position in NextEra Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. lifted its stake in NextEra Energy by 1.6% in the third quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 985,328 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $56,449,000 after acquiring an additional 15,400 shares during the period. BLB&B Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 3.6% in the third quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC now owns 157,772 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,039,000 after acquiring an additional 5,460 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its position in NextEra Energy by 20.7% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 233,682 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,388,000 after purchasing an additional 40,017 shares during the period. Finally, SFE Investment Counsel lifted its position in shares of NextEra Energy by 38.1% in the 3rd quarter. SFE Investment Counsel now owns 81,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,683,000 after purchasing an additional 22,555 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

About NextEra Energy

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.