Clearway Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CWEN) to Issue Dividend Increase – $0.45 Per Share

Clearway Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CWEN) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be given a dividend of 0.4528 per share on Monday, December 15th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. This is a 1.6% increase from Clearway Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45.

Clearway Energy has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.2%per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 2 consecutive years. Clearway Energy has a dividend payout ratio of 161.8% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities analysts expect Clearway Energy to earn $0.57 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $1.78 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 312.3%.

Clearway Energy Trading Up 3.7%

Shares of Clearway Energy stock traded up $1.20 on Wednesday, hitting $33.69. The stock had a trading volume of 188,021 shares, compared to its average volume of 967,182. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $30.10 and a 200 day moving average of $30.50. Clearway Energy has a twelve month low of $24.40 and a twelve month high of $34.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.03, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.93.

Clearway Energy (NYSE:CWEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $1.68. Clearway Energy had a return on equity of 1.37% and a net margin of 5.31%.The company had revenue of $429.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $427.72 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.31 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Clearway Energy will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on CWEN shares. Cibc World Mkts downgraded shares of Clearway Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Clearway Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Clearway Energy in a research report on Monday, October 6th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $34.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Clearway Energy from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, CIBC increased their target price on shares of Clearway Energy from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Clearway Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.57.

Clearway Energy Company Profile

Clearway Energy, Inc operates in the renewable energy business in the United States. The company operates through Conventional and Renewables segments. It has approximately 6,000 net MW of installed wind, solar, and energy generation projects; and approximately 2,500 net MW of natural gas-fired generation facilities.