5 Cheap Utility Stocks to Buy According to Analysts

3. Clearway Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CWEN)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 27

Average Upside Potential Based on Analyst Ratings: 17.04%

Average Price Target: $37.86

Clearway Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CWEN) operates in the renewable energy business in the United States. The company operates through Conventional, Renewables, and Thermal segments. On February 16, Clearway Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CWEN) declared a $0.3745 per share quarterly dividend, a 2% increase from its prior dividend of $0.3672. The dividend was paid to shareholders on March 15. 

On January 10, Mark Jarvi, an analyst at CIBC, upgraded Clearway Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CWEN) from Neutral to Outperform. He noted that there was a significant variance in individual performance within the Power & Utility sector in 2022, which was a challenging year. The analyst believes that the same factors will drive outperformance this year, particularly given the uncertain macro and equity market outlook in 2023. In this context, the analyst prefers companies that can balance defensive underpinnings with measurable growth.

According to Insider Monkey’s fourth quarter database, 27 hedge funds were long Clearway Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CWEN), compared to 25 funds in the earlier quarter. Jos Shaver’s Electron Capital Partners is the largest stakeholder of the company, with 846,571 shares worth nearly $27 million. 

Here is what ClearBridge Investments SMID Cap Growth Strategy has to say about Clearway Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CWEN) in its Q4 2021 investor letter:

“Clearway Energy primarily owns and operates contracted renewable generation assets. It also owns and operates conventional generation and thermal infrastructure assets. Clearway Energy’s share price continued to benefit from the completed sale of its thermal assets, which was above expectations, generating USD$1.3 billion in incremental proceeds. Additionally, there was optimism surrounding a stimulus bill passthrough which contains renewables subsidies.”