Bank of Nova Scotia Has $53.26 Million Stake in Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. (NYSE:BEP)

Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. (NYSE:BEP) (TSE:BEP) by 31.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,338,940 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 564,515 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia owned 0.82% of Brookfield Renewable Partners worth $53,263,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Brookfield Renewable Partners by 23.8% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 8,472,170 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $192,605,000 after acquiring an additional 1,628,524 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,851,842 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $178,943,000 after acquiring an additional 246,163 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in Brookfield Renewable Partners by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 7,059,557 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $160,585,000 after purchasing an additional 315,272 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 2,751,587 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $62,647,000 after buying an additional 116,593 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CCLA Investment Management increased its stake in Brookfield Renewable Partners by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 2,627,972 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $59,838,000 after purchasing an additional 49,553 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.16% of the company’s stock.

Brookfield Renewable Partners Stock Performance

NYSE:BEP opened at $20.12 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.73 billion, a P/E ratio of -22.60 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.25 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. has a 1 year low of $19.29 and a 1 year high of $29.56.

Brookfield Renewable Partners (NYSE:BEP) (TSE:BEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The utilities provider reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by $0.16. Brookfield Renewable Partners had a negative return on equity of 0.03% and a negative net margin of 0.15%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.01 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. will post -1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Brookfield Renewable Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.373 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from Brookfield Renewable Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.49 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.42%. Brookfield Renewable Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -167.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on BEP. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $31.00 price target on shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays assumed coverage on Brookfield Renewable Partners in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $27.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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 report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, CIBC reduced their price objective on shares of Brookfield Renewable Partners from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperformer” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Brookfield Renewable Partners has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.18.

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.