Clearway Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CWEN) Increases Dividend to $0.48 Per Share

Key Points

• Clearway Energy raised its quarterly dividend 1.6% to $0.4824 per share, payable December 15 to shareholders of record December 1. The annualized dividend is about $1.93 per share, a 5.6% yield.
• The dividend appears poorly covered by earnings: the payout ratio is 172.7%, and analysts’ forecast earnings of $0.60 per share next year would imply a payout ratio above 300%.
• Clearway reported quarterly EPS of $0.42, below the $0.83 consensus, while revenue of $522 million exceeded expectations. Analysts’ average rating is Buy, with an average price target of $42.

Clearway Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CWEN - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, November 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.4824 per share on Tuesday, December 15th. This represents a $1.93 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 1st. This is a 1.6% increase from Clearway Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.4750.

Clearway Energy has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.1% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 2 years. Clearway Energy has a payout ratio of 172.7% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Research analysts expect Clearway Energy to earn $0.60 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $1.90 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 316.7%.

Clearway Energy Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:CWEN opened at $34.71 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $31.18 and a 200-day moving average of $35.54. The firm has a market cap of $7.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.67 and a beta of 0.81. Clearway Energy has a twelve month low of $28.57 and a twelve month high of $41.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55.

Clearway Energy (NYSE:CWEN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 9th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.41). Clearway Energy had a return on equity of 1.60% and a net margin of 5.78%. The firm had revenue of $522.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $513.11 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Clearway Energy will post -0.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CWEN. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Clearway Energy from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Clearway Energy from $58.00 to $52.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Evercore reaffirmed a "positive" rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Clearway Energy in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Seaport Research Partners lowered their price target on Clearway Energy from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Clearway Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $42.00.

About Clearway Energy

Clearway Energy, Inc owns and operates electricity-generation facilities in the United States. Its portfolio includes renewable energy assets, primarily wind and solar, as well as energy storage and conventional power-generation and thermal infrastructure.

The company sells electricity and related services to utilities and other customers, often through long-term contractual arrangements. Its facilities are located across multiple U.S. regions.

Clearway Energy was formerly known as NRG Yield, Inc and adopted its current name in 2018.

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