1 Historically Cheap, Safe Stock You Can Confidently Buy Hand Over Fist in an Expensive Market

The post 1 Historically Cheap, Safe Stock You Can Confidently Buy Hand Over Fist in an Expensive Market appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) is a stock built to be owned for decades, because it pairs the most predictable cash-generating asset in American business (a regulated monopoly utility) with the largest renewable generation platform on the planet, both compounding into a tailwind that does not turn off.

At $86.75 against a 52-week high of $98.03, a trailing P/E of 22, and a beta of 0.671, the entry price is reasonable in a market where defensives have repriced. This is a long-term position.

Pillar 1: Durability

The business is structurally protected. Florida Power & Light is the largest regulated electric utility in the United States by retail electricity produced, operating in the world’s 15th largest economy, a state forecast to grow GDP at 4.7% annually through 2040. FPL added nearly 100,000 customers in Q1 2026 alone, and a newly approved four-year rate agreement underwrites $90 billion to $100 billion of infrastructure investment through 2032 at typical residential bill growth of just ~2% annually. Alongside FPL sits NextEra Energy Resources, the world’s largest generator of wind and solar, with a 33 GW backlog and a service area spanning 49 states.

Pillar 2: Income and compounding

NEE has paid a dividend every quarter since at least 1999. The quarterly payout has climbed from $0.4675 in 2023 to $0.5665 in 2025, and management guides dividend per share growth of roughly 10% per year through 2026 and 6% per year from year-end 2026 through 2028. The earnings engine behind those checks is 8%+ adjusted EPS CAGR through 2032, with the same rate targeted through 2035, off a $3.71 2025 base. Q1 2026 adjusted EPS rose 10% year over year to $1.09.

Pillar 3: Surviving the cycles

Power demand runs through recessions, and it is now accelerating. CEO John Ketchum told investors “demand for electricity in this country is not slowing down. In fact, it’s accelerating.” NEE was selected by the U.S. Department of Commerce to build 9.5 GW of new gas-fired generation under the U.S.-Japan trade deal, is recommissioning the 615 MW Duane Arnold nuclear plant under a 25-year PPA with Google, and is operating over 30 data center hubs. Total assets stand at $221.4 billion with $55.2 billion of equity behind a $43 billion interest rate hedging program.

When it lags

NEE underperforms in sharply rising-rate environments. It is capital intensive, with $24.6 billion in FY2025 capex, and Q4 2025 adjusted EPS missed consensus at $0.54 versus $0.92. That volatility is the price of admission. The forever thesis rests on regulated rate base growth, multi-decade contracted renewables, and structural electricity demand, none of which depend on the next Federal Reserve meeting.

For long-term holders, the thesis rests on compounding the dividend rather than tracking the daily quote.

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