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

Shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $7.47.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank cut their price target on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $7.50 to $6.50 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $8.00 to $8.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Desjardins upped their target price on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.25 to $5.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. National Bankshares upped their target price on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.75 to $7.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, TD Securities upped their target price 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.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Algonquin Power & Utilities

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of AQN. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 8.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,529,781 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $20,894,000 after buying an additional 281,699 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,881,130 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $58,496,000 after purchasing an additional 616,049 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 37.7% during the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 349,785 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,074,000 after purchasing an additional 95,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp grew its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 31.5% during the 3rd quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp now owns 37,771 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 9,037 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.28% of the company’s stock.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Up 0.8 %

AQN opened at $5.98 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $6.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $6.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a market cap of $4.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.20 and a beta of 0.68. Algonquin Power & Utilities has a one year low of $4.90 and a one year high of $8.51.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 10th. The utilities provider reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.01). Algonquin Power & Utilities had a positive return on equity of 5.39% and a negative net margin of 12.44%. The company had revenue of $737.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $813.38 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Algonquin Power & Utilities will post 0.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a $0.108 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $0.43 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.22%. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -87.76%.

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.