Morgan Stanley Upgrades NextEra Energy Partners (NYSE:NEP) to “Overweight”

NextEra Energy Partners (NYSE:NEP) was upgraded by Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report released on Monday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on NextEra Energy Partners from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Guggenheim cut shares of NextEra Energy Partners from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $37.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy Partners from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of NextEra Energy Partners in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $15.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of NextEra Energy Partners from $33.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.69.

NextEra Energy Partners Price Performance

Shares of NEP traded up $1.26 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $18.73. 583,043 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,570,133. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.59. The stock has a market cap of $1.75 billion, a PE ratio of 8.59 and a beta of 1.10. NextEra Energy Partners has a 12 month low of $15.55 and a 12 month high of $35.15.

NextEra Energy Partners (NYSE:NEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The solar energy provider reported ($0.43) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.94). NextEra Energy Partners had a negative return on equity of 1.07% and a net margin of 17.47%. The company had revenue of $319.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $332.25 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.57 EPS. NextEra Energy Partners’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that NextEra Energy Partners will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NEP. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of NextEra Energy Partners by 3.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 635,881 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $19,127,000 after purchasing an additional 22,370 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC bought a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy Partners during the 1st quarter valued at $1,308,000. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of NextEra Energy Partners by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 84,025 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $2,527,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in shares of NextEra Energy Partners by 574.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 63,722 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $1,917,000 after acquiring an additional 54,267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy Partners in the 2nd quarter worth about $382,000. 66.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.