146,523 Shares in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) Purchased by Guardian Partners Inc.

Guardian Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 146,523 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $653,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AQN. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 50,251 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $223,000 after acquiring an additional 3,096 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 33.4% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 13,343 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 3,343 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 935,130 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,141,000 after purchasing an additional 3,656 shares in the last quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC now owns 505,299 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,794,000 after purchasing an additional 6,176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 42,383 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $189,000 after buying an additional 6,602 shares in the last quarter. 62.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AQN. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price 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. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.25 to $5.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. 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, National Bankshares decreased their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $5.94.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Performance

NYSE AQN opened at $5.13 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $4.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.97 and a beta of 0.71. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a 1-year low of $4.19 and a 1-year high of $6.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $584.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $644.73 million. Equities analysts predict that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.065 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.07%. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is currently -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.