NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE:NEP) Shares Acquired by MAI Capital Management

MAI Capital Management lifted its position in NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE:NEP) by 7.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,177 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,491 shares during the quarter. MAI Capital Management’s holdings in NextEra Energy Partners were worth $972,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. M&G PLC lifted its stake in NextEra Energy Partners by 19.3% in the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 3,062,083 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $85,738,000 after buying an additional 496,383 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in NextEra Energy Partners by 2,514.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 98,142 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $2,711,000 after purchasing an additional 94,388 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in NextEra Energy Partners by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 635,881 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $19,127,000 after purchasing an additional 22,370 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans purchased a new position in NextEra Energy Partners during the 3rd quarter worth $16,186,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in NextEra Energy Partners in the second quarter valued at $638,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NEP. Guggenheim lowered NextEra Energy Partners from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $37.00 to $22.00 in a report on Monday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley downgraded NextEra Energy Partners from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $20.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research cut shares of NextEra Energy Partners from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of NextEra Energy Partners from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, CIBC dropped their price target on shares of NextEra Energy Partners from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.69.

NextEra Energy Partners Stock Performance

Shares of NEP opened at $16.37 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $22.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.34. The stock has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.51 and a beta of 1.10. NextEra Energy Partners, LP has a 12-month low of $15.55 and a 12-month high of $35.15. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The solar energy provider reported ($0.43) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.94). The company had revenue of $319.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $332.25 million. NextEra Energy Partners had a net margin of 17.47% and a negative return on equity of 1.07%. NextEra Energy Partners’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.57 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that NextEra Energy Partners, LP will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were issued a $0.9175 dividend. This represents a $3.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 22.41%. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. NextEra Energy Partners’s dividend payout ratio is 168.35%.

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.