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 5.3%. 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 by an average of 0.2%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 2 years. Clearway Energy has a dividend 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. 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 Stock Performance

Shares of CWEN traded up $1.85 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $34.34. 270,056 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 967,549. Clearway Energy has a 1 year low of $24.40 and a 1 year high of $34.06. The stock has a market cap of $6.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.93. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $30.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.50.

Clearway Energy (NYSE:CWEN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $1.68. Clearway Energy had a net margin of 5.31% and a return on equity of 1.37%. The business had revenue of $429.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $427.72 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.31 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Clearway Energy will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CWEN. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Clearway Energy from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Clearway Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Clearway Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Clearway Energy in a research report on Monday, October 6th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $34.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Clearway Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Clearway Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.