National Bank Financial Upgrades Brookfield Renewable Partners (NYSE:BEP) to Strong-Buy

National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners (NYSE:BEP) (TSE:BEP) to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Sunday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. CIBC reduced their price target on shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperformer” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $27.00 target price on the stock. National Bankshares decreased their price target on shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Brookfield Renewable Partners from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.13.

Brookfield Renewable Partners Trading Up 7.7%

Shares of BEP stock opened at $25.79 on Friday. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $19.29 and a fifty-two week high of $29.56. The stock has a market cap of $7.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.98 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.84.

Brookfield Renewable Partners (NYSE:BEP) (TSE:BEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported ($0.35) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $907.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.73 billion. Brookfield Renewable Partners had a negative return on equity of 0.03% and a negative net margin of 0.15%. On average, analysts forecast that Brookfield Renewable Partners will post -1.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brookfield Renewable Partners Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a $0.373 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.78%. Brookfield Renewable Partners’s dividend payout ratio is currently -147.52%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brookfield Renewable Partners

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners by 2.3% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 16,839,565 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $373,164,000 after buying an additional 374,087 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Brookfield Renewable Partners by 23.8% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 8,472,170 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $192,605,000 after acquiring an additional 1,628,524 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,344,041 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $184,904,000 after purchasing an additional 492,199 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 7,059,557 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $160,585,000 after purchasing an additional 315,272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners by 30.1% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,975,447 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $65,866,000 after purchasing an additional 689,196 shares in the last quarter. 63.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.