NextEra Energy, Inc. (NEE), headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida, is a public utility holding company involved in the generation, transmission, distribution, and sale of electric energy across the U.S. and Canada. Valued at $165.4 billion by market cap, it generates significant electricity from wind and solar sources and aims to reduce total carbon emissions by 67% by 2025 compared to 2005 levels.
Companies worth $10 billion or more are generally described as “large-cap stocks,” and NEE fits right into that category. NextEra Energy is a leading clean energy company with operations in 49 states and four Canadian provinces. It owns Florida Power & Light Company, the largest electric utility in the U.S., serving around 5.9 million customers across Florida. Its clean energy subsidiary, NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, is the world's largest renewable energy generator.
Shares of this utility giant touched their 52-week high of $81.18 in the last trading session. However, shares of NEE are up 2.9% over the past three months, trailing behind the S&P 500 Index’s ($SPX) 4.7% gains during the same time frame.
Longer term, NEE shares rose 19.5% over the past year, and in 2024, the stock is up 31.6%. By contrast, the SPX is up 15.9% on a YTD basis and 22.4% over the past 52 weeks.
To confirm the mixed price trend, NEE has been trading above its 50-day moving average since late July and above its 200-day moving average since mid-April.
NextEra Energy's stock is rising due to several favorable factors, including improving economic conditions in Florida and competitive residential electricity bills. Additionally, NextEra Energy Resources is benefiting from transitioning to low-cost renewables and battery storage, adding over 3,000 megawatts of new projects to its backlog last quarter.
On Jul. 24, NEE shares jumped more than 4% after reporting its Q2 results. While its adjusted EPS of $0.96 exceeded Wall Street's expectations of $0.93, the company’s revenue of $6.07 billion fell short of the $7.29 billion estimate.
Rival Duke Energy Corporation (DUK) has outperformed NEE with 31.7% gains over the past 52 weeks. However, DUK’s 19.3% returns on a YTD basis is lower than NEE’s gains over the same period.
Analysts remain reasonably optimistic about NEE’s prospects. The stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the 17 analysts in coverage, and the mean price target of $82.53 is a 3.3% premium to current levels.
On the date of publication, Kritika Sarmah did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
