Brookfield Renewable Partners (NYSE:BEP) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners (NYSE:BEP) (TSE:BEP) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning.

BEP has been the topic of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $31.00 target price on shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners in a report on Monday, February 3rd. CIBC cut their target price on shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperformer” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Brookfield Renewable Partners from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. National Bankshares cut their price target on Brookfield Renewable Partners from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Brookfield Renewable Partners from $31.00 to $29.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Brookfield Renewable Partners presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.40.

Brookfield Renewable Partners Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners stock opened at $22.22 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $22.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.59. Brookfield Renewable Partners has a fifty-two week low of $19.92 and a fifty-two week high of $29.56. The firm has a market cap of $6.34 billion, a P/E ratio of -24.97 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Brookfield Renewable Partners (NYSE:BEP) (TSE:BEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The utilities provider reported ($0.06) earnings per share 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $0.01 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Brookfield Renewable Partners will post -0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brookfield Renewable Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.373 dividend. This is a boost from Brookfield Renewable Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.49 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.71%. Brookfield Renewable Partners’s dividend payout ratio is presently -159.55%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brookfield Renewable Partners

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BEP. CCLA Investment Management increased its stake 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 during the period. Abel Hall LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners in the 4th quarter worth approximately $456,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,331,000. MAI Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners by 294.2% during 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 during the period. Finally, Mirabella Financial Services LLP raised its holdings in Brookfield Renewable Partners by 145.2% during 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 currently owned by 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.