Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) Given New $6.50 Price Target at Scotiabank

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) had its price objective lowered by Scotiabank from $7.50 to $6.50 in a research report released on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has a sector perform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

AQN has been the topic of several other reports. TD Securities increased their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Desjardins upgraded shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from a sell rating to a hold rating and increased their target price for the stock from $4.75 to $5.75 in a report on Monday, March 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities to a sell rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. CIBC increased their target price on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $7.00 to $7.50 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, National Bankshares cut their target price on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $7.50 to $7.25 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $7.67.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE AQN opened at $6.06 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $6.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.98. Algonquin Power & Utilities has a fifty-two week low of $4.90 and a fifty-two week high of $9.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 202.00 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.50.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a net margin of 1.06% and a return on equity of 5.64%. The business had revenue of $666.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $661.73 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.22 earnings per share. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s revenue was down 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Algonquin Power & Utilities will post 0.49 EPS for the current year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a dividend of $0.1085 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.43 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.16%. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s payout ratio is 1,433.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Algonquin Power & Utilities

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. PFG Investments LLC grew its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 71.3% in the first quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 63,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 26,369 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 8.2% in the first quarter. Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC now owns 592,430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,744,000 after purchasing an additional 44,714 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Algonquin Power & Utilities in the first quarter valued at $169,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new position in Algonquin Power & Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at $318,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 166.5% in the fourth quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,266,810 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,997,000 after purchasing an additional 791,410 shares in the last quarter. 62.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Algonquin Power & Utilities

Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. operates in the power and utility industries in the United States, Canada, and other regions. The company operates in two segments, Regulated Services Group and Renewable Energy Group. The company primarily owns and operates a regulated electric, water distribution and wastewater collection, and natural gas utility systems and transmission operations.