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NextEra Energy (NEE) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know

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NextEra Energy (NEE - Free Report) closed at $82.85 in the latest trading session, marking a +1.28% move from the prior day. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.13%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.74%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.87%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the parent company of Florida Power & Light Co. Had gained 10.32% over the past month. This has outpaced the Utilities sector's gain of 6.27% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.65% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from NextEra Energy as it approaches its next earnings release. On that day, NextEra Energy is projected to report earnings of $0.68 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 1.49%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $5.03 billion, up 35.06% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $2.79 per share and revenue of $22.98 billion. These totals would mark changes of +9.41% and +34.63%, respectively, from last year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for NextEra Energy. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.3% higher. NextEra Energy is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Digging into valuation, NextEra Energy currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 29.34. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 18.59, so we one might conclude that NextEra Energy is trading at a premium comparatively.

Investors should also note that NEE has a PEG ratio of 3.33 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. Utility - Electric Power stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 3.5 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Utility - Electric Power industry is part of the Utilities sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 189, which puts it in the bottom 26% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual 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.

To follow NEE in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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