Candriam S.C.A. Purchases 525,185 Shares of NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE:NEP)

Candriam S.C.A. lifted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE:NEP) by 548.0% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 621,013 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 525,185 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in NextEra Energy Partners were worth $34,725,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy Partners by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,609,845 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock valued at $634,357,000 after purchasing an additional 356,265 shares during the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its position in NextEra Energy Partners by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 4,270,253 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $299,301,000 after buying an additional 98,465 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in NextEra Energy Partners by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,759,605 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $167,646,000 after buying an additional 11,346 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in NextEra Energy Partners by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,188,292 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $162,284,000 after buying an additional 16,707 shares during the period. Finally, Pictet Asset Management SA boosted its position in NextEra Energy Partners by 14.7% during the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management SA now owns 1,892,708 shares of the solar energy provider’s stock worth $114,982,000 after buying an additional 243,285 shares during the period. 80.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James upgraded shares of NextEra Energy Partners from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 29th. Bank of America upgraded shares of NextEra Energy Partners from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $53.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 1st. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of NextEra Energy Partners in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of NextEra Energy Partners from $74.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Monday, May 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of NextEra Energy Partners from $72.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.64.

NextEra Energy Partners Stock Performance

Shares of NEP stock opened at $47.51 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.44 billion, a PE ratio of 28.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. NextEra Energy Partners, LP has a 12 month low of $44.24 and a 12 month high of $86.06.

NextEra Energy Partners (NYSE:NEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The solar energy provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $350.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $392.92 million. NextEra Energy Partners had a net margin of 12.22% and a return on equity of 1.06%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.61 EPS. Analysts forecast that NextEra Energy Partners, LP will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 4th were paid a dividend of $0.854 per share. This represents a $3.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 3rd. This is a positive change from NextEra Energy Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. NextEra Energy Partners’s payout ratio is 202.37%.

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, as well as contracted natural gas pipeline assets. NextEra Energy Partners, LP was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida.