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

Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. (NYSE:BEP) (TSE:BEP) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, January 31st,NASDAQ Dividends reports. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from Brookfield Renewable Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36.

Brookfield Renewable Partners has increased its dividend payment by an average of 5.3% per year over the last three years. Brookfield Renewable Partners has a payout ratio of 546.2% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. 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 Trading Up 5.8 %

BEP traded up $1.20 during trading on Friday, hitting $21.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,682,281 shares, compared to its average volume of 917,980. The firm 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 twelve month low of $19.92 and a twelve month high of $29.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $23.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.72.

Brookfield Renewable Partners (NYSE:BEP) (TSE:BEP) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The utilities provider reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 posted $0.01 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Brookfield Renewable Partners will post -1.2 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on BEP. StockNews.com downgraded Brookfield Renewable Partners from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. CIBC boosted their price target 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. dropped their price objective 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. National Bankshares decreased their target price on shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $31.00 price target on shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Brookfield Renewable Partners currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.78.

Brookfield Renewable Partners Company Profile

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.