Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Sells 54,670 Shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) by 58.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 39,652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 54,670 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities were worth $251,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AQN. Pacifica Partners Inc. raised its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 1,975.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 4,150 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 3,950 shares during the period. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd bought a new stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. acquired a new position in Algonquin Power & Utilities during the third quarter worth $62,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities during the fourth quarter valued at about $64,000. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities during the third quarter worth about $70,000. 62.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Price Performance

AQN opened at $6.16 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 205.00 and a beta of 0.66. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $6.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.98. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a twelve month low of $4.90 and a twelve month high of $9.14.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, March 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $666.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $661.73 million. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a net margin of 1.06% and a return on equity of 5.64%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.22 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.49 EPS for the current year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a dividend of $0.1085 per share. This represents a $0.43 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.05%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 1,433.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on AQN. StockNews.com raised Algonquin Power & Utilities to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. TD Securities raised their price objective on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $7.50 to $6.50 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. CIBC upped their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $7.00 to $7.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, National Bankshares dropped their target price on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $7.50 to $7.25 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.67.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Profile

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.