Guggenheim Downgrades NextEra Energy Partners (NYSE:NEP) to Neutral

Guggenheim lowered shares of NextEra Energy Partners (NYSE:NEP) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report issued on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $22.00 price objective on the solar energy provider’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $37.00.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of NextEra Energy Partners to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of NextEra Energy Partners from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $25.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of NextEra Energy Partners from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $38.00 to $30.00 in a report on Monday, July 1st. Morgan Stanley downgraded NextEra Energy Partners from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $31.00 to $20.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on NextEra Energy Partners from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.69.

NextEra Energy Partners Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:NEP opened at $19.36 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.87 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $25.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.47. 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 has a 12-month low of $19.03 and a 12-month high of $35.15.

NextEra Energy Partners (NYSE:NEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The solar energy provider reported ($0.43) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.94). NextEra Energy Partners had a negative return on equity of 1.07% and a net margin of 17.47%. The company had revenue of $319.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $332.25 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.57 earnings per share. NextEra Energy Partners’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy Partners will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current year.

NextEra Energy Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be paid a $0.9175 dividend. This represents a $3.67 annualized dividend and a yield of 18.96%. This is a boost from NextEra Energy Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 6th. NextEra Energy Partners’s dividend payout ratio is presently 166.06%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NextEra Energy Partners

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NEP. M&G PLC grew its position 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 worth $85,738,000 after buying an additional 496,383 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in NextEra Energy Partners by 57.5% during the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,023 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $498,000 after acquiring an additional 6,582 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in NextEra Energy Partners by 18.6% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 121,259 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $3,349,000 after purchasing an additional 19,050 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of NextEra Energy Partners by 3.6% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 50,110 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 1,747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc lifted its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy Partners by 6.2% during the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 850,200 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $23,483,000 after purchasing an additional 49,400 shares during the last quarter. 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.