Scotiabank Lowers Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) Price Target to $6.50

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) had its price target lowered by investment analysts at Scotiabank from $7.50 to $6.50 in a research note issued on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a “sector perform” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Scotiabank’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 5.61% from the stock’s previous close.

AQN has been the subject of several other research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Desjardins upgraded shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $4.75 to $5.75 in a research note on Monday, March 11th. National Bankshares reduced their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $7.50 to $7.25 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, CIBC raised their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $7.00 to $7.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $7.67.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Up 1.4 %

AQN stock opened at $6.16 on Monday. Algonquin Power & Utilities has a one year low of $4.90 and a one year high of $9.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.24 billion, a PE ratio of 205.00 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.63. The company has a fifty day moving average of $6.03 and a 200-day moving average of $5.98.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last released its earnings results on Friday, March 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a net margin of 1.06% and a return on equity of 5.64%. The company had revenue of $666.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $661.73 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.22 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Algonquin Power & Utilities will post 0.49 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Algonquin Power & Utilities

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AQN. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 754.0% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,552,484 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $98,292,000 after buying an additional 13,731,305 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Algonquin Power & Utilities during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,322,000. Sasco Capital Inc. CT acquired a new position in Algonquin Power & Utilities during the third quarter valued at approximately $18,156,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Algonquin Power & Utilities during the third quarter valued at approximately $8,936,000. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 7.9% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 13,293,748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $78,699,000 after purchasing an additional 978,758 shares in the last quarter. 62.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Company 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.