NextEra Energy Partners (NYSE:NEP) Given “Market Perform” Rating at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets reissued their market perform rating on shares of NextEra Energy Partners (NYSE:NEP) in a report issued on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $18.00 price objective on the solar energy provider’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $26.00.

NEP has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Guggenheim downgraded NextEra Energy Partners from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $37.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Mizuho dropped their price target on NextEra Energy Partners from $33.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on NextEra Energy Partners from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised NextEra Energy Partners from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $25.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, CIBC dropped their price target on NextEra Energy Partners from $26.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, NextEra Energy Partners has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.64.

NextEra Energy Partners Stock Performance

Shares of NEP stock opened at $17.39 on Monday. NextEra Energy Partners has a one year low of $15.55 and a one year high of $35.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.78. The stock has a market cap of $1.63 billion, a PE ratio of 7.98 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $17.74 and a 200-day moving average of $22.73.

NextEra Energy Partners (NYSE:NEP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The solar energy provider reported ($0.43) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.94). The business had revenue of $319.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $332.25 million. NextEra Energy Partners had a net margin of 17.47% and a negative return on equity of 1.07%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.57 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that NextEra Energy Partners will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were issued a $0.9175 dividend. This represents a $3.67 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 21.10%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 6th. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. NextEra Energy Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 168.35%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NextEra Energy Partners

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NEP. M&G PLC raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy Partners by 19.3% in the 3rd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 3,062,083 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $85,738,000 after purchasing an additional 496,383 shares in the last quarter. Redwood Grove Capital LLC grew its position in shares of NextEra Energy Partners by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. Redwood Grove Capital LLC now owns 982,235 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $27,129,000 after buying an additional 161,436 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc grew its position in shares of NextEra Energy Partners by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 850,200 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $23,483,000 after buying an additional 49,400 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in shares of NextEra Energy Partners by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 630,588 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $17,417,000 after buying an additional 46,728 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy Partners in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $16,186,000. Institutional investors own 66.01% of the company’s stock.

About NextEra Energy Partners

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.