Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The) Begins Coverage on NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE)

Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The) assumed coverage on shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) in a research report issued on Monday, July 24th, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The)’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 8.31% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on NEE. UBS AG reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $143.00 price objective (up previously from $138.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Tuesday, April 18th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Friday, March 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $147.00 target price (up previously from $144.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Sunday, July 9th. Zacks Investment Research cut NextEra Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $158.00 target price (up previously from $150.00) on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Monday, June 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. NextEra Energy currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $148.64.

Shares of NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) opened at 147.72 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $69.32 billion, a PE ratio of 16.92 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a 50 day moving average of $143.21 and a 200 day moving average of $134.86. NextEra Energy has a 52 week low of $110.49 and a 52 week high of $148.30.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.10. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.88% and a net margin of 24.26%. The company had revenue of $4.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.67 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy will post $6.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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In related news, Director Eric E. Silagy sold 8,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.58, for a total transaction of $1,140,244.38. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 26,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,779,352.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director James L. Robo sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.05, for a total value of $4,411,500.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 90,431 shares of company stock valued at $12,692,378. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NEE. Hanson McClain Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 6.0% in the second quarter. Hanson McClain Inc. now owns 763 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its stake in NextEra Energy by 8.9% in the first quarter. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $112,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Highstreet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in NextEra Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $134,000. Pinnacle Bank acquired a new stake in NextEra Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $161,000. Finally, Norway Savings Bank boosted its stake in NextEra Energy by 1.4% in the first quarter. Norway Savings Bank now owns 1,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $172,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.72% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Company Profile

NextEra Energy, Inc (NEE) is a holding company. The Company is an electric power companies in North America and, through its subsidiary NextEra Energy Resources, LLC (NEER) and its affiliated entities, is the generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun. NEE also owns and/or operates generation, transmission and distribution facilities to support its services to retail and wholesale customers, and has investments in gas infrastructure assets.