Nicola Wealth Management LTD. Sells 9,000 Shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. (NYSE:BEP)

Nicola Wealth Management LTD. decreased its stake in Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. (NYSE:BEP) (TSE:BEP) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 135,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 9,000 shares during the period. Nicola Wealth Management LTD.’s holdings in Brookfield Renewable Partners were worth $3,074,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BEP. Creative Planning bought a new stake in Brookfield Renewable Partners in the third quarter worth about $206,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Brookfield Renewable Partners in the third quarter worth about $42,331,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Brookfield Renewable Partners in the third quarter worth about $348,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners by 4.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,605,679 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $214,328,000 after purchasing an additional 330,648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gold Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners by 1.9% in the third quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. now owns 81,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,289,000 after purchasing an additional 1,505 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.16% of the company’s stock.

Brookfield Renewable Partners Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BEP opened at $21.69 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $22.21 and a 200 day moving average of $24.45. The stock has a market cap of $6.19 billion, a P/E ratio of -24.37 and a beta of 0.95. Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. has a 12 month low of $19.92 and a 12 month high of $29.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Brookfield Renewable Partners (NYSE:BEP) (TSE:BEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The utilities provider reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by $0.16. Brookfield Renewable Partners had a negative net margin of 0.15% and a negative return on equity of 0.03%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.01 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. will post -1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brookfield Renewable Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.373 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.49 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.88%. This is a boost from Brookfield Renewable Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Brookfield Renewable Partners’s payout ratio is currently -167.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners from $31.00 to $29.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. CIBC reduced their target price on shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperformer” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. National Bankshares reduced their target price on shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.50.

About Brookfield Renewable Partners

Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. owns a portfolio of renewable power generating facilities primarily in North America, Colombia, and Brazil. The company generates electricity through hydroelectric, wind, solar, distributed generation, and pumped storage, as well as renewable natural gas, carbon capture and storage, recycling, cogeneration biomass, nuclear services, and power transformation.