Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. (NYSE:BEP) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. (NYSE:BEP) (TSE:BEP) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the nine analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $30.50.

BEP has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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 report on Monday, February 3rd. National Bankshares decreased their target price on shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Brookfield Renewable Partners from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th.

Brookfield Renewable Partners Price Performance

BEP stock opened at $23.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.25. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $22.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.30. Brookfield Renewable Partners has a one year low of $19.92 and a one year high of $29.56. The company has a market capitalization of $6.73 billion, a PE ratio of -26.54 and a beta of 1.02.

Brookfield Renewable Partners (NYSE:BEP) (TSE:BEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The utilities provider reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.22) by $0.16. Brookfield Renewable Partners had a negative return on equity of 0.03% and a negative net margin of 0.15%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.01 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Brookfield Renewable Partners will post -1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brookfield Renewable Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.373 dividend. This represents a $1.49 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from Brookfield Renewable Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Brookfield Renewable Partners’s dividend payout ratio is -167.42%.

Institutional Trading of Brookfield Renewable Partners

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BEP. CCLA Investment Management lifted its holdings in Brookfield Renewable Partners by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 2,627,972 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $59,838,000 after buying an additional 49,553 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners by 23.8% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 8,472,170 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $192,605,000 after acquiring an additional 1,628,524 shares in the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $456,000. NINE MASTS CAPITAL Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners by 240.0% in the fourth quarter. NINE MASTS CAPITAL Ltd now owns 137,573 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,135,000 after purchasing an additional 97,105 shares during the period. Finally, Mirabella Financial Services LLP grew its stake 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 worth $13,153,000 after purchasing 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.