NextEra Energy Partners (NYSE:NEP) Downgraded by Royal Bank of Canada to Sector Perform

NextEra Energy Partners (NYSE:NEP) was downgraded by investment analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Marketbeat reports. They presently have a $30.00 price target on the solar energy provider’s stock, down from their prior price target of $38.00. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target indicates a potential upside of 8.54% from the company’s current price.

NEP has been the topic of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy Partners in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded NextEra Energy Partners to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Raymond James reduced their price objective on NextEra Energy Partners from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of NextEra Energy Partners in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays cut NextEra Energy Partners from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $32.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.20.

NextEra Energy Partners Stock Performance

NYSE:NEP opened at $27.64 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.52. NextEra Energy Partners has a 52-week low of $20.17 and a 52-week high of $59.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.59 billion, a PE ratio of 9.06 and a beta of 1.04.

NextEra Energy Partners (NYSE:NEP) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The solar energy provider reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.63. NextEra Energy Partners had a negative return on equity of 0.48% and a net margin of 23.55%. The company had revenue of $257.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $331.78 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.17) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that NextEra Energy Partners will post 1.89 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NextEra Energy Partners

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NEP. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy Partners by 160.2% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 830 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of NextEra Energy Partners by 46.0% in the fourth quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,689 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of NextEra Energy Partners by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 11,250 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $342,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of NextEra Energy Partners by 208.3% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 928 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of NextEra Energy Partners by 1.0% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 84,025 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $2,527,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. 66.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

NextEra Energy Partners Company Profile

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.