M&G Plc Takes $83.07 Million Position in NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE:NEP)

M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE:NEP) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 2,768,978 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock, valued at approximately $83,069,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of NextEra Energy Partners by 160.2% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 830 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy Partners during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of NextEra Energy Partners by 208.3% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 928 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy Partners during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Heritage Wealth Advisors bought a new stake in shares of NextEra Energy Partners during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.01% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Partners Price Performance

Shares of NextEra Energy Partners stock traded up $0.26 during trading on Friday, hitting $26.73. 1,089,924 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,391,990. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market cap of $2.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.76 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $30.05 and its 200-day moving average is $29.15. NextEra Energy Partners, LP has a 52 week low of $20.17 and a 52 week high of $59.40.

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

NextEra Energy Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th were given a dividend of $0.8925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 6th. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.36%. NextEra Energy Partners’s dividend payout ratio is 117.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on NEP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of NextEra Energy Partners in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Mizuho lowered NextEra Energy Partners from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $33.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Barclays lowered NextEra Energy Partners from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of NextEra Energy Partners in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered NextEra Energy Partners from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $38.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, NextEra Energy Partners currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.20.

NextEra Energy Partners 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.