NextEra is Trading Above 50 & 200 Day SMA: Is it Time to Add the Stock?

NextEra Energy NEE is trading above its 50-day and 200-day simple moving average (SMA), signaling a bullish trend. NEE’s shares have gained steadily over the past twelve months after the earnings beat in the trailing four quarters.

The 50-day and 200-day SMAs are key indicators for traders and analysts to identify support and resistance levels. It is considered particularly important as this is the first marker of an uptrend or downtrend of the stocks.

NEE 50 and 200 Day SMA

The company benefits from its well-chalked-out investment plan to strengthen its operations, strategic acquisitions, rising customer base, increasing backlog of clean projects and improvement in the economic condition in its service regions.

NextEra Energy has outperformed the Zacks Utility Electric Power industry, the Zacks Utilities sector and the S&P 500 in the past three months.

Price Performance (Three months)

Should you consider adding NEE to your portfolio only based on positive price movements? Let’s delve deeper and find out the factors that can help investors decide whether it is a good entry point to add NEE stock to their portfolio.

Factors Acting as Tailwind for the NEE Stock

NextEra Energy is gaining from Florida’s improving economic backdrop. Its subsidiary, Florida Power & Light Company (“FPL”), offers residential bills well below the national average, creating a competitive edge. Years of investments in strengthening transmission and distribution networks have boosted service reliability and reinforced infrastructure, enabling FPL to effectively meet the needs of its growing customer base. FPL plans to invest nearly $21.7 billion in Transmission & Distribution projects from 2025 to 2029 to support customer growth and continue hardening the energy grid.

NextEra Energy continues to make long-term investments in clean energy assets. NextEra’s unit Energy Resources expects to be able to add 36.5-46.5 gigawatts (“GW”) of new renewables in the 2024-2027 period to the generation portfolio via clean energy investments. This unit aims to invest $25 billion in the 2025-2029 time period to further expand and strengthen its existing operations. At present, NextEra Energy Resources has nearly 30 GW in the backlog of signed contracts, which provides clear visibility into the ongoing expansion of clean power generation.

With its increasing portfolio of renewable assets, NextEra Energy is well-positioned to benefit from the anticipated rise in U.S. clean power demand. Expanding data center developments and increasing consumption from industrial and commercial sectors are expected to further drive electricity needs.

NextEra Energy enjoys one of the lowest cost structures in the utility industry, driven by operational efficiency, renewable energy scale advantages, and strategically positioned assets. These strengths support robust profit margins and further solidify the company’s competitive position.

NEE Stock Returns Better Than its Industry

NextEra Energy’s trailing 12-month return on equity (ROE) is 12.31%, ahead of the industry average of 10.14%. ROE is a financial ratio that measures how well a company uses its shareholders’ equity to generate profits. The current ROE of the company indicates that it is using shareholders’ funds more efficiently than its peers.

Another utility, Dominion Energy’s D ROE is 9.68%, lower than its industry. To further strengthen its operation, Dominion intends to invest $50 billion over the 2025-2029 period.

NextEra Energy’s Earnings Estimates Up Y/Y

NextEra Energy expects its 2025 earnings per share in the range of $3.45-$3.70 compared with $3.43 a year ago. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NEE’s 2025 and 2026 earnings per share indicates year-over-year growth of 7.29% and 7.88%, respectively. It expects to increase its earnings per share in the range of 6-8% annually through 2027 from the 2024 level.

 
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for American Electric Power’s AEP 2025 and 2026 earnings per share indicates year-over-year growth of 4.27% and 7.14%, respectively. American Electric Power has a portfolio of nearly 23,200 MW of electric-generating capacity and also operates nuclear power plants to produce clean energy.

NextEra Energy’s Capital Return Program

NextEra Energy plans to increase the dividend rate annually by 10%, at least through 2026, from the 2024 base, subject to its board’s approval. The current annual dividend of the company is $2.27 per share, and the dividend yield of 3.0% is better than the Zacks S&P 500 Composite’s yield of 1.49%. Check NEE’s dividend history here.

Dominion Energy and American Electric Power’s current dividend yield is 4.36% and 3.30% respectively, better than the Zacks S&P 500 Composite’s dividend yield.

NextEra Energy’s Shares Trading at a Premium

The company is currently valued at a premium compared to its industry on a forward 12-month P/E basis. NextEra Energy is currently trading at 19.72X compared with the industry average of 14.99X.

Rounding Up

NextEra Energy maintains steady performance, supported by growing demand for clean energy across its service areas. The company’s broad U.S. presence, operational efficiency, economies of scale in renewables, and strategically positioned projects continue to drive and enhance its overall results. Strategic investments to increase clean energy generation capacity are also acting as a tailwind.

Despite its premium valuation, investors can remain invested in this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) utility in their portfolio, given its stable ROE, rising earnings estimates and regular dividend payment capabilities. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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