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

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The most recent trading session ended with NextEra Energy (NEE - Free Report) standing at $62.92, reflecting a +1.35% shift from the previouse trading day's closing. The stock's performance was behind the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.41%. Elsewhere, the Dow saw an upswing of 0.58%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq appreciated by 2.2%.

Shares of the parent company of Florida Power & Light Co. Witnessed a gain of 3.99% over the previous month, beating the performance of the Utilities sector with its gain of 3.13% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.9%.

Market participants will be closely following the financial results of NextEra Energy in its upcoming release. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $0.49, marking a 3.92% fall compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $6.15 billion, down 0.2% from the prior-year quarter.

It's also important for investors to be aware of any recent modifications to analyst estimates for NextEra Energy. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest 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 suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

The Zacks Rank system, spanning from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), boasts an impressive track record of outperformance, audited externally, with #1 ranked stocks yielding an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.1% lower. Right now, NextEra Energy possesses a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, NextEra Energy is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 18.31. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 15.2, so one might conclude that NextEra Energy is trading at a premium comparatively.

It is also worth noting that NEE currently has a PEG ratio of 2.24. 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. The Utility - Electric Power industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 2.7 as of yesterday's close.

The Utility - Electric Power industry is part of the Utilities sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 76, this industry ranks in the top 31% of all industries, numbering over 250.

The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.


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