Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) Price Target Raised to $6.25 at CIBC

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) had its price target boosted by CIBC from $5.75 to $6.25 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. CIBC currently has a neutral rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on AQN. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. National Bank Financial lowered Algonquin Power & Utilities from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $6.75 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $6.00 target price (up from $5.00) on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, National Bankshares lowered their price objective on shares of 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 and twelve have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.31.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AQN opened at $5.86 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market cap of $4.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.54 and a beta of 0.67. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.93. Algonquin Power & Utilities has a fifty-two week low of $4.19 and a fifty-two week high of $6.36.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $692.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $699.08 million. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a negative net margin of 39.12% and a positive return on equity of 5.22%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.14 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Algonquin Power & Utilities will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.065 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.44%. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -15.48%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Algonquin Power & Utilities

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 84.9% in the first quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 42,223,594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $216,868,000 after purchasing an additional 19,392,805 shares during the period. FIL Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 85.6% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 40,886,793 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $181,473,000 after buying an additional 18,857,515 shares in the last quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities during the 1st quarter valued at $51,400,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Algonquin Power & Utilities in the 4th quarter worth $31,508,000. Finally, Ariel Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities in the 1st quarter worth $35,735,000. Institutional investors own 62.28% of the company’s stock.

About Algonquin Power & Utilities

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.