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

Clearway Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CWEN) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, November 4th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.4528 per share on Monday, December 15th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis 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%annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 2 consecutive years. Clearway Energy has a payout ratio of 161.8% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. 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 Stock Up 3.7%

Shares of CWEN traded up $1.20 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $33.69. The stock had a trading volume of 188,021 shares, compared to its average volume of 967,182. Clearway Energy has a 12 month low of $24.40 and a 12 month high of $34.06. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The company has a market capitalization of $6.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.93.

Clearway Energy (NYSE:CWEN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $427.72 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.31 EPS. Clearway Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Clearway Energy will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on CWEN shares. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on Clearway Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. CIBC raised their price objective on Clearway Energy from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Evercore ISI started coverage on Clearway Energy in a research note on Monday, October 6th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $34.00 price objective on the stock. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Clearway Energy in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Clearway Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.57.

About Clearway Energy

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.