NextEra Energy Partners (NYSE:NEP) Cut to “Neutral” at Guggenheim

Guggenheim lowered shares of NextEra Energy Partners (NYSE:NEP) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report published on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $22.00 target price on the solar energy provider’s stock, down from their previous target price of $37.00.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on NextEra Energy Partners from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley cut NextEra Energy Partners from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $20.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com upgraded NextEra Energy Partners to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on NextEra Energy Partners from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of NextEra Energy Partners from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy Partners has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.69.

NextEra Energy Partners Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NEP opened at $19.18 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.79 billion, a PE ratio of 8.83 and a beta of 1.06. NextEra Energy Partners has a 1 year low of $19.16 and a 1 year high of $35.15. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.53. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

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). The business had revenue of $319.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $332.25 million. NextEra Energy Partners had a negative return on equity of 1.07% and a net margin of 17.47%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.57 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that NextEra Energy Partners will post 1.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be paid a $0.9175 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 6th. This is an increase from NextEra Energy Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.67 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 19.13%. NextEra Energy Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 166.06%.

Institutional Trading of NextEra Energy Partners

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NEP. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy Partners by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 29,190 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $807,000 after buying an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC grew its position in NextEra Energy Partners by 2.4% in the third quarter. Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,459 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $509,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in NextEra Energy Partners by 0.9% in the second quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 48,363 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $1,336,000 after acquiring an additional 454 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in NextEra Energy Partners by 2.0% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 26,186 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $724,000 after buying an additional 509 shares during the period. Finally, Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in NextEra Energy Partners by 4.6% during the second quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 13,088 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $362,000 after buying an additional 581 shares during the period. 66.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.