Clearway Energy (NYSE:CWEN) Rating Increased to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Clearway Energy (NYSE:CWEN) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the company. Evercore reiterated a “positive” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Clearway Energy in a report on Monday, August 17th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Clearway Energy in a report on Monday, July 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $43.00 price objective for the company. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Clearway Energy in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Zacks Research raised shares of Clearway Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Clearway Energy from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Clearway Energy has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $44.50.

Clearway Energy Price Performance

CWEN stock opened at $31.75 on Friday. Clearway Energy has a 1 year low of $27.67 and a 1 year high of $41.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.52 billion, a PE ratio of 41.78 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.05.

Clearway Energy (NYSE:CWEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.76. The firm had revenue of $481.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $473.92 million. Clearway Energy had a return on equity of 1.60% and a net margin of 5.78%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Clearway Energy will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clearway Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a $0.475 dividend. This is a boost from Clearway Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.0%. Clearway Energy’s payout ratio is 250.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CWEN. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. grew its stake in shares of Clearway Energy by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. now owns 19,770 shares of the company’s stock worth $657,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Clearway Energy by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 17,096 shares of the company’s stock valued at $569,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al raised its stake in shares of Clearway Energy by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 28,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $948,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in Clearway Energy by 92.4% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 858 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Clearway Energy by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 8,096 shares of the company’s stock valued at $269,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares during the period. 84.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Clearway Energy Company Profile

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.