Comparing Brookfield Renewable Partners (BEP) and NRG Yield Inc Class C (NYLD)

Brookfield Renewable Partners (NYSE: BEP) and NRG Yield Inc Class C (NYSE:NYLD) are both mid-cap utilities companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, earnings and dividends.

Risk and Volatility

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Brookfield Renewable Partners has a beta of 0.24, suggesting that its stock price is 76% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, NRG Yield Inc Class C has a beta of 2.16, suggesting that its stock price is 116% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Brookfield Renewable Partners pays an annual dividend of $1.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.4%. NRG Yield Inc Class C pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.0%. Brookfield Renewable Partners pays out -1,088.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. NRG Yield Inc Class C pays out 153.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Brookfield Renewable Partners has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares Brookfield Renewable Partners and NRG Yield Inc Class C’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Brookfield Renewable Partners	3.79%	0.80%	0.36%
NRG Yield Inc Class C	0.30%	4.10%	1.09%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

54.2% of Brookfield Renewable Partners shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 29.1% of NRG Yield Inc Class C shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of NRG Yield Inc Class C shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Brookfield Renewable Partners and NRG Yield Inc Class C’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Brookfield Renewable Partners	$2.63 billion	2.10	-$4.00 million	($0.18)	-169.89
NRG Yield Inc Class C	$1.01 billion	3.23	-$8.00 million	$0.81	21.73

Brookfield Renewable Partners has higher revenue and earnings than NRG Yield Inc Class C. Brookfield Renewable Partners is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than NRG Yield Inc Class C, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Brookfield Renewable Partners and NRG Yield Inc Class C, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Brookfield Renewable Partners	0	9	3	0	2.25
NRG Yield Inc Class C	0	4	2	0	2.33

Brookfield Renewable Partners presently has a consensus target price of $36.11, indicating a potential upside of 18.09%. NRG Yield Inc Class C has a consensus target price of $18.00, indicating a potential upside of 2.27%. Given Brookfield Renewable Partners’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Brookfield Renewable Partners is more favorable than NRG Yield Inc Class C.

Summary

NRG Yield Inc Class C beats Brookfield Renewable Partners on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

Brookfield Renewable Partners Company Profile

Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. owns a portfolio of renewable power generating facilities in the North America, Colombia, Brazil, Europe, and internationally. The company operates through Hydroelectric; Wind; and Solar, Storage, and others segments. It operates 840 generation facilities using hydro, solar, wind, biomass, and other renewable technologies. Brookfield Renewable Partners Limited operates as the general partner of Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. The company was formerly known as Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners L.P. and changed its name to Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. in May 2016. The company was founded in 1999 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda. Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. is a subsidiary of Brookfield Renewable Partners Limited.

NRG Yield Inc Class C Company Profile

NRG Yield, Inc., through its subsidiaries, acquires, owns, and operates contracted renewable and conventional generation, and thermal infrastructure assets in the United States. As of December 31, 2017, it had contracted renewable and conventional generation portfolio of 5,118 net megawatt (MW). The company also owns thermal infrastructure assets with an aggregate steam and chilled water capacity of 1,319 net MW thermal equivalents, and electric generation capacity of 123 net MW. Its thermal infrastructure assets provide steam, hot water and/or chilled water, and electricity to commercial businesses, universities, hospitals, and governmental units. The company was founded in 2012 and is based in Princeton, New Jersey. NRG Yield, Inc. is a subsidiary of NRG Energy, Inc.