Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

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

AQN has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $8.00 to $8.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of 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. TD Securities upped their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, National Bankshares upped their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.75 to $7.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:AQN opened at $5.98 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $6.24 and a 200 day moving average of $6.16. Algonquin Power & Utilities has a 52 week low of $4.90 and a 52 week high of $8.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.20 and a beta of 0.68.

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

Algonquin Power & Utilities Cuts Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Algonquin Power & Utilities

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Invesco Ltd. grew its position 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 during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,717,759 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $152,249,000 after acquiring an additional 413,104 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 754.0% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,552,484 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $98,292,000 after acquiring an additional 13,731,305 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities during the 4th quarter valued at about $318,000. Finally, 13D Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 76.3% during the 4th quarter. 13D Management LLC now owns 845,814 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,346,000 after acquiring an additional 366,088 shares during the last quarter. 62.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.