Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. (NYSE:BEP) Receives Average Rating of "Buy" from Analysts

Shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. (NYSE:BEP - Get Free Report) TSE: BEP have been given an average recommendation of "Buy" by the ten research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $30.18.

BEP has been the subject of a number of research reports. CIBC reduced their target price on shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "outperformer" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays initiated coverage on Brookfield Renewable Partners in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $27.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brookfield Renewable Partners

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 16,465,478 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $375,248,000 after acquiring an additional 211,467 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position 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 worth $192,605,000 after purchasing an additional 1,628,524 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,851,842 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $178,943,000 after buying an additional 246,163 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in Brookfield Renewable Partners by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 7,059,557 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $160,585,000 after buying an additional 315,272 shares during the period. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its holdings in Brookfield Renewable Partners by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 2,751,587 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $62,647,000 after acquiring an additional 116,593 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.16% of the company's stock.

Brookfield Renewable Partners Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BEP traded up $0.52 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $21.54. The company had a trading volume of 393,442 shares, compared to its average volume of 581,347. The firm's fifty day moving average is $22.35 and its 200 day moving average is $23.58. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $6.12 billion, a PE ratio of -24.20 and a beta of 0.99. Brookfield Renewable Partners has a twelve month low of $19.29 and a twelve month high of $29.56.

Brookfield Renewable Partners (NYSE:BEP - Get Free Report) TSE: BEP last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 0.03% and a negative net margin of 0.15%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.01 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Brookfield Renewable Partners will post -1.04 EPS for the current year.

Brookfield Renewable Partners Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.373 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.93%. 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%.

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.