CAFD covers the payout 1.13 times — thin, and graded on cash available for distribution, not earnings. Clearway Energy pays $0.4750 a quarter, $1.90 annualized, declared August 5, 2026, raised at every declaration since 2020. The payout is graded on cash available for distribution, not earnings: 2025 CAFD of $430 million covers dividends of about $381 million 1.13 times, thin cover and the caution that grades the card warn. Earnings show a net loss of $231 million in 2025 and are not the base for this yieldco; 2026 CAFD guidance of $470 million to $510 million was reaffirmed in February 2026.
Key risk: Coverage is thin at 1.13x and wind and solar output varies with weather; a below-median resource year plus project debt service would squeeze the payout before growth spending does.
Changes if: CAFD coverage falls below 1.0x, or the quarterly raise pattern breaks.
- !CAFD coverage CAFD $430m / dividends about $381m = 1.13x, thin cover, a caution. Graded on CAFD, not EPS (net loss $231m in 2025).
- ✓Leverage (yieldco basis) Project-level debt $8.7bn gross; yieldco leverage is carried at the project level and is not graded on net debt/EBITDA. Basis stated.
- ✓Dividend history Raised every quarter since 2020, 7 years of increases; no cut.
- ✓Trap screen Yield 5.66%, CAFD coverage above 1.0x, no cut; not a trap pattern.
What this grade doesn't say: It screens the dividend only — covered, real, compounding. It says nothing about valuation or price: a well-covered payer can still be overpriced, and its price can still fall.