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

Shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $7.67.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Scotiabank cut their target price on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $7.50 to $6.50 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Desjardins raised Algonquin Power & Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the company from $4.75 to $5.75 in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Finally, TD Securities lifted their price objective on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th.

Institutional Trading of Algonquin Power & Utilities

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of AQN. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 9.5% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 79,789 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 6,931 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in the 3rd quarter valued at about $70,000. Forsta AP Fonden increased its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 18.8% in the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 439,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,613,000 after buying an additional 69,500 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 313.3% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 770,885 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,584,000 after buying an additional 584,358 shares during the period. Finally, Value Partners Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities in the third quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.28% of the company’s stock.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE AQN opened at $6.61 on Friday. Algonquin Power & Utilities has a twelve month low of $4.90 and a twelve month high of $9.14. The business’s fifty day moving average is $6.14 and its 200 day moving average is $6.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The company has a market cap of $4.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 220.33 and a beta of 0.66.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a return on equity of 5.64% and a net margin of 1.06%. The firm had revenue of $666.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $661.73 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Algonquin Power & Utilities will post 0.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a $0.1085 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.43 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.57%. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s payout ratio is currently 1,433.33%.

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.