Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) Short Interest Update

Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 15,270,000 shares, a growth of 10.7% from the November 30th total of 13,790,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 5,210,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days. Currently, 2.0% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of AQN stock traded down $0.03 on Wednesday, reaching $4.45. 6,097,907 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,568,631. Algonquin Power & Utilities has a twelve month low of $4.25 and a twelve month high of $6.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The company has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.45 and a beta of 0.68. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $4.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.29.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $573.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $620.46 million. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a negative net margin of 39.12% and a positive return on equity of 5.22%. The company’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.11 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Algonquin Power & Utilities will post 0.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.065 dividend. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s payout ratio is -20.16%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,433,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,843,000 after buying an additional 135,400 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 6.1% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 7,720,474 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,105,000 after buying an additional 447,246 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 156.0% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 8,905,059 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,341,000 after buying an additional 5,426,523 shares during the period. Troluce Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 33.3% during the second quarter. Troluce Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,575,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,090,000 after buying an additional 643,352 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new position in Algonquin Power & Utilities in the 3rd quarter valued at about $7,173,000. 62.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $6.00 price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.75 to $5.25 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $5.50 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. CIBC lowered their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.75 to $5.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a report on Thursday, September 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $6.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.25.

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.