Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Buys 3,096 Shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. grew its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,251 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,096 shares during the quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities were worth $223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 45.5% in the 3rd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 12,959,770 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,806,000 after purchasing an additional 4,054,711 shares in the last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 161.2% in the fourth quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 5,924,983 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,366,000 after acquiring an additional 3,656,840 shares in the last quarter. Yaupon Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities during the third quarter valued at approximately $11,997,000. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 6.0% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 20,882,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $115,175,000 after acquiring an additional 1,190,236 shares during the period. Finally, Krilogy Financial LLC boosted its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 116.7% in the fourth quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 1,621,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,214,000 after purchasing an additional 873,045 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. National Bankshares lowered their target price on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.75 to $6.25 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $5.50 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $7.00 target price on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.25 to $5.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Algonquin Power & Utilities currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $5.94.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AQN opened at $5.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.92. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $4.19 and a fifty-two week high of $6.79. The stock has a market cap of $3.93 billion, a PE ratio of -3.97 and a beta of 0.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $4.70 and a 200-day moving average of $4.84.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.10 by ($0.04). Algonquin Power & Utilities had a negative net margin of 39.12% and a positive return on equity of 5.22%. The company had revenue of $584.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $644.73 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.065 dividend. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -14.44%.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Profile

Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. is an investment holding company, which engages in energy generation and water distribution facilities. It operates through the Regulated Services Group and Renewable Energy Group segments. The Regulated Services Group segment owns and operates a portfolio of electric, natural gas, water distribution, and wastewater collection utility systems and transmission.