Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $6.5909.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Desjardins upped their target price on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.25 to $6.75 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Wall Street Zen raised Algonquin Power & Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. TD Securities upgraded Algonquin Power & Utilities to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott set a $7.00 price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research note on Monday, November 10th.

Institutional Trading of Algonquin Power & Utilities

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AQN. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 16.3% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,809 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 2,073 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 21.9% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 156,975 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $806,000 after acquiring an additional 28,175 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 12.5% during the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 200,015 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,027,000 after acquiring an additional 22,200 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 544,081 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,794,000 after acquiring an additional 28,909 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd grew its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 243.5% in the 1st quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 89,694 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $461,000 after acquiring an additional 63,584 shares during the last quarter. 62.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Down 1.3%

NYSE AQN opened at $5.84 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $5.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.79. Algonquin Power & Utilities has a one year low of $4.19 and a one year high of $6.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.23. The company has a market capitalization of $4.48 billion, a P/E ratio of -145.84 and a beta of 0.77.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.03. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a negative net margin of 1.11% and a positive return on equity of 5.14%. The company had revenue of $600.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $596.67 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Algonquin Power & Utilities will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s payout ratio is currently -650.00%.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Company 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.