Verity & Verity LLC Buys 42,913 Shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN)

Verity & Verity LLC boosted its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN – Get Rating) by 9.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 500,048 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 42,913 shares during the quarter. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities were worth $3,260,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities in the 3rd quarter valued at $81,000. Pictet Asset Management SA lifted its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pictet Asset Management SA now owns 247,920 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,722,000 after acquiring an additional 3,288 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 315,518 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,442,000 after acquiring an additional 9,031 shares in the last quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP bought a new stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities in the 3rd quarter valued at $348,000. Finally, Schechter Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities during the 3rd quarter worth about $112,000. 41.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Performance

NYSE AQN opened at $7.96 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The company has a market capitalization of $5.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 132.67, a P/E/G ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 0.49. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a 12-month low of $6.41 and a 12-month high of $16.01. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $7.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.96.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 17th. The utilities provider reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $748.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $703.54 million. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a net margin of 1.45% and a return on equity of 6.65%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.21 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 31st will be issued a $0.218 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 30th. This represents a $0.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.95%. This is an increase from Algonquin Power & Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s payout ratio is currently 1,200.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on AQN shares. Bank of America raised shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $7.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 16th. Credit Suisse Group cut their price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $11.00 to $10.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $12.00 to $8.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 21st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from C$7.00 to C$7.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $9.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.08.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Profile

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Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. operates as a diversified utility company. The firm engages in the ownership and operation of a portfolio of regulated and non-regulated generation, distribution and transmission utility assets. It operates through the following segments: Regulated Services Group, and Renewable Energy Group.