NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Lowered to Hold at Royal Bank of Canada

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) was downgraded by stock analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Tuesday, Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also commented on NEE. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of NextEra Energy from $69.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays upped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on NextEra Energy from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Dbs Bank downgraded NextEra Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $85.46.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NEE stock opened at $84.96 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $82.19 and a 200-day moving average of $75.96. The firm has a market cap of $174.55 billion, a PE ratio of 23.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.56. NextEra Energy has a 12-month low of $53.11 and a 12-month high of $86.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.29 billion. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.75% and a net margin of 24.45%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that NextEra Energy will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NextEra Energy news, EVP Nicole J. Daggs sold 658 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.97, for a total value of $50,646.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,697. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of NextEra Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy by 197.4% during the 2nd quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in NextEra Energy in the third quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in NextEra Energy during the second quarter valued at about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

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.