NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) Trading 6.2% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)’s stock price rose 6.2% on Friday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $93.00 to $94.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. NextEra Energy traded as high as $73.92 and last traded at $73.53. Approximately 17,200,612 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 53% from the average daily volume of 11,254,776 shares. The stock had previously closed at $69.23.

NEE has been the topic of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of NextEra Energy from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $83.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Dbs Bank downgraded NextEra Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their target price on NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $87.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Nicole J. Daggs sold 4,007 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.57, for a total transaction of $302,808.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,193,401.44. This represents a 20.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in NextEra Energy by 1,337.2% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 131,866 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,337,000 after purchasing an additional 122,691 shares in the last quarter. Sfmg LLC bought a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $212,000. Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its position in NextEra Energy by 267.2% during the 2nd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 179,801 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,732,000 after acquiring an additional 130,829 shares during the period. AlTi Global Inc. boosted its stake in NextEra Energy by 37.7% during the second quarter. AlTi Global Inc. now owns 7,623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $540,000 after acquiring an additional 2,086 shares in the last quarter. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. grew its holdings in NextEra Energy by 7.6% in the second quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 2,463,445 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $162,759,000 after purchasing an additional 173,173 shares during the period. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NextEra Energy Stock Up 5.7 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $73.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.55 billion, a PE ratio of 21.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.58.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 26.49% and a return on equity of 11.94%. Analysts forecast that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.41 earnings per share for the current year.

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.