Clearway Energy (NYSE:CWEN) Lowered to Strong Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Clearway Energy (NYSE:CWEN) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upgraded Clearway Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $37.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Clearway Energy from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Clearway Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. UBS Group set a $45.00 target price on shares of Clearway Energy in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up from $40.00) on shares of Clearway Energy in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Clearway Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.14.

Clearway Energy Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Clearway Energy stock opened at $38.36 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. Clearway Energy has a 12-month low of $25.63 and a 12-month high of $41.51. The company has a market capitalization of $7.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.01, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.95. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $36.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.26.

Clearway Energy (NYSE:CWEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The company reported ($0.89) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.21) by ($0.68). The firm had revenue of $310.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $334.42 million. Clearway Energy had a return on equity of 3.01% and a net margin of 11.83%.During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.41) EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Clearway Energy will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clearway Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.4602 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. This is a positive change from Clearway Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Clearway Energy’s payout ratio is presently 127.46%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Clearway Energy

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of CWEN. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. lifted its holdings in shares of Clearway Energy by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. now owns 19,770 shares of the company’s stock worth $657,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its position in Clearway Energy by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 17,096 shares of the company’s stock worth $569,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Courier Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Clearway Energy by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 33,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,104,000 after buying an additional 385 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lifted its holdings in Clearway Energy by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 28,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $948,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Huntington National Bank grew its position in shares of Clearway Energy by 92.4% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 858 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.53% of the company’s stock.

About Clearway Energy

Clearway Energy Group (NYSE: CWEN) is a U.S.-based energy company specializing in the ownership, operation and development of clean and conventional power generation assets. The company’s portfolio spans utility-scale wind and solar farms, biogas and natural gas-fired thermal facilities, as well as distributed generation projects such as rooftop solar and energy storage. Clearway’s generation assets are largely underpinned by long-term power purchase agreements and service contracts with creditworthy counterparties, enabling stable, predictable cash flows.

Originally launched in 2013 as NRG Yield and rebranded to Clearway Energy in 2018 following a strategic sponsorship change, the business has grown into one of the largest independent renewable energy platforms in the United States.