Groupe la Francaise Increases Stake in Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. $BEP

Key Points

• Groupe la Francaise has increased its holdings in Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. by 20.9%, owning 162,557 shares worth approximately $3,967,000 after acquiring an additional 28,058 shares in the first quarter.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed opinions on Brookfield Renewable Partners, with price targets ranging from $29.00 to $32.00 and an average rating of "Buy."
• Brookfield has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.373 per share, with a yield of 5.9% based on an annualized basis, despite a dividend payout ratio of -156.84%.

Groupe la Francaise boosted its holdings in shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. (NYSE:BEP - Free Report) TSE: BEP by 20.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 162,557 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 28,058 shares during the quarter. Groupe la Francaise owned approximately 0.06% of Brookfield Renewable Partners worth $3,967,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BEP. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Brookfield Renewable Partners during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,623,000. Barclays PLC grew its position in Brookfield Renewable Partners by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,998 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $183,000 after buying an additional 951 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in Brookfield Renewable Partners during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $346,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Brookfield Renewable Partners by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 286,861 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $6,541,000 after buying an additional 4,825 shares during the period. Finally, Guardian Capital LP grew its position in Brookfield Renewable Partners by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Guardian Capital LP now owns 468,295 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $10,661,000 after buying an additional 50,945 shares during the period. 63.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. CIBC raised their target price on shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an "outperformer" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, June 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $30.11.

Brookfield Renewable Partners Price Performance

BEP traded down $0.18 during trading on Friday, reaching $25.35. 133,898 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 625,482. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.44. Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. has a 12-month low of $19.29 and a 12-month high of $29.56. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.04. The company has a market cap of $7.19 billion, a P/E ratio of -26.64 and a beta of 1.05.

Brookfield Renewable Partners (NYSE:BEP - Get Free Report) TSE: BEP last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.19) by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. Brookfield Renewable Partners had a return on equity of 0.44% and a net margin of 2.28%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. will post -1.04 EPS for the current year.

Brookfield Renewable Partners Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a $0.373 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $1.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.9%. Brookfield Renewable Partners's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -156.84%.

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.