StockNews.com Downgrades Brookfield Renewable Partners (NYSE:BEP) to Hold

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners (NYSE:BEP) (TSE:BEP) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Wednesday.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $31.00 target price on shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. CIBC decreased their price target on shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperformer” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners from $31.00 to $29.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.50.

Brookfield Renewable Partners Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners stock opened at $22.37 on Wednesday. Brookfield Renewable Partners has a 1 year low of $19.92 and a 1 year high of $29.56. The firm has a market cap of $6.38 billion, a PE ratio of -25.14 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.25 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.56.

Brookfield Renewable Partners (NYSE:BEP) (TSE:BEP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The utilities provider reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by $0.16. Brookfield Renewable Partners had a negative net margin of 0.15% and a negative return on equity of 0.03%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.01 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Brookfield Renewable Partners will post -0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brookfield Renewable Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.373 dividend. This represents a $1.49 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.67%. This is an increase from Brookfield Renewable Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Brookfield Renewable Partners’s payout ratio is presently -159.55%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. CCLA Investment Management increased its stake in shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 2,627,972 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $59,838,000 after buying an additional 49,553 shares during the period. Abel Hall LLC bought a new stake in Brookfield Renewable Partners in the fourth quarter valued at $456,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Brookfield Renewable Partners in the third quarter valued at $42,331,000. MAI Capital Management boosted its holdings in Brookfield Renewable Partners by 294.2% in the third quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 86,683 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,443,000 after acquiring an additional 64,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirabella Financial Services LLP boosted its holdings in Brookfield Renewable Partners by 145.2% in the third quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP now owns 466,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,153,000 after acquiring an additional 276,374 shares in the last quarter. 63.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Brookfield Renewable Partners

Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. owns a portfolio of renewable power generating facilities primarily in North America, Colombia, and Brazil. The company generates electricity through hydroelectric, wind, solar, distributed generation, and pumped storage, as well as renewable natural gas, carbon capture and storage, recycling, cogeneration biomass, nuclear services, and power transformation.