Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. (NYSE:BEP) Increases Dividend to $0.37 Per Share

Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. (NYSE:BEP) (TSE:BEP) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, January 31st,NASDAQ Dividends reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of 0.373 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.81%. 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 has increased its dividend by an average of 5.3% annually over the last three years. Brookfield Renewable Partners has a payout ratio of 546.2% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities analysts expect Brookfield Renewable Partners to earn ($0.76) per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $1.42 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of -186.8%.

Brookfield Renewable Partners Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BEP traded up $1.20 during trading on Friday, reaching $21.90. 1,682,281 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 917,980. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.24 billion, a P/E ratio of -26.70 and a beta of 0.95. Brookfield Renewable Partners has a 52-week low of $19.92 and a 52-week high of $29.56. The company has a 50-day moving average of $23.03 and a 200-day moving average of $24.72.

Brookfield Renewable Partners (NYSE:BEP) (TSE:BEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The utilities provider reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by $0.16. Brookfield Renewable Partners had a net margin of 1.16% and a return on equity of 0.24%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.01 EPS. Analysts forecast that Brookfield Renewable Partners will post -1.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BEP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. CIBC lifted their price objective on shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Brookfield Renewable Partners from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com lowered Brookfield Renewable Partners from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered 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 report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.78.

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.