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NextEra Energy (NEE) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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NextEra Energy (NEE - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $83.65, moving +1.23% from the previous trading session. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 2.28%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 2.13%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 5.02%.

Coming into today, shares of the parent company of Florida Power & Light Co. Had lost 3.65% in the past month. In that same time, the Utilities sector lost 0.98%, while the S&P 500 lost 4.61%.

NextEra Energy will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect NextEra Energy to post earnings of $0.51 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 24.39%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $5.74 billion, up 13.82% from the prior-year quarter.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for NextEra Energy. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. NextEra Energy is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Investors should also note NextEra Energy's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 26.47. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 17.52, which means NextEra Energy is trading at a premium to the group.

Investors should also note that NEE has a PEG ratio of 2.74 right now. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. NEE's industry had an average PEG ratio of 3.13 as of yesterday's close.

The Utility - Electric Power industry is part of the Utilities sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 93, putting it in the top 37% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.


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