NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE:NEP) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE:NEP) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,120,000 shares, a decrease of 35.9% from the September 15th total of 4,870,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,330,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NextEra Energy Partners

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 22,370 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in NextEra Energy Partners during the 2nd quarter worth about $638,000. Fred Alger Management LLC bought a new stake in NextEra Energy Partners during the 2nd quarter worth about $5,452,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in NextEra Energy Partners by 574.0% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 63,722 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $1,917,000 after acquiring an additional 54,267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC bought a new stake in NextEra Energy Partners during the 1st quarter worth about $1,308,000. Institutional investors own 66.01% of the company’s stock.

NextEra Energy Partners Price Performance

Shares of NextEra Energy Partners stock traded up $0.72 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $25.96. 906,547 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,402,533. The company has a market cap of $2.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.51 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.00. NextEra Energy Partners has a fifty-two week low of $21.57 and a fifty-two week high of $35.15.

NextEra Energy Partners (NYSE:NEP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The solar energy provider reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.07. NextEra Energy Partners had a net margin of 24.42% and a negative return on equity of 0.40%. The business had revenue of $360.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $365.54 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.53 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that NextEra Energy Partners will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Partners Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were issued a dividend of $0.905 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $3.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.94%. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. NextEra Energy Partners’s dividend payout ratio is currently 118.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NEP. Raymond James downgraded shares of NextEra Energy Partners from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. UBS Group reduced 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 report on Monday, September 30th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of NextEra Energy Partners from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of NextEra Energy Partners from $33.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of NextEra Energy Partners in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.54.

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.