Nextpower (NASDAQ:NXT) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Nextpower Inc. (NASDAQ:NXT) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $131.72 and last traded at $130.9880, with a volume of 1186315 shares. The stock had previously closed at $124.86.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on NXT shares. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Nextpower from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Nextpower from $109.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Nextpower from $122.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Glj Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $147.33 price objective on shares of Nextpower in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $104.00 target price on shares of Nextpower in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nextpower has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.49.

Nextpower Trading Up 4.5%

The company has a market capitalization of $19.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.36, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 2.41. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $112.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $96.02.

Nextpower (NASDAQ:NXT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The company reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.17. Nextpower had a net margin of 16.43% and a return on equity of 32.01%. The business had revenue of $909.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $812.43 million. Analysts anticipate that Nextpower Inc. will post 3.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Daniel S. Shugar sold 59,456 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.17, for a total value of $6,252,987.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 746,339 shares in the company, valued at $78,492,472.63. This trade represents a 7.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William D. Watkins sold 5,000 shares of Nextpower stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.57, for a total value of $592,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 11,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,396,398.89. This represents a 29.80% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 104,348 shares of company stock worth $10,876,525 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NXT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Nextpower by 2.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,167,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,048,279,000 after acquiring an additional 283,981 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Nextpower by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,391,696 shares of the company’s stock valued at $398,932,000 after purchasing an additional 31,689 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Nextpower by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,021,741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,385,000 after purchasing an additional 236,593 shares during the last quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Nextpower by 11.0% during the second quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,919,777 shares of the company’s stock worth $158,748,000 after purchasing an additional 289,663 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Nextpower by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,864,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $249,541,000 after purchasing an additional 139,211 shares during the period. 67.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Nextpower

Nextpower, formerly known as Nextracker, is traded on NASDAQ under the symbol NXT and is a leading provider of advanced solar tracking solutions for utility-scale and distributed energy projects. The company specializes in the design, engineering and manufacturing of single-axis tracker systems that optimize the capture of solar energy by following the sun’s trajectory throughout the day. Nextpower’s core hardware offerings aim to enhance energy yield, reduce balance-of-system costs and simplify installation and maintenance for downstream solar developers and operators.

In addition to its tracker hardware, Nextpower provides a suite of digital software and analytics tools to maximize asset performance.