Short Interest in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) Grows By 10.7%

Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in 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. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 5,210,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Algonquin Power & Utilities

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities during the third quarter worth about $54,000. Claro Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities during the 2nd quarter valued at about $61,000. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Algonquin Power & Utilities during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $58,000. Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new position in Algonquin Power & Utilities in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities in the third quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AQN. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $5.50 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.75 to $5.25 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $6.00 price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research report on Friday, October 11th. CIBC reduced their target price on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.75 to $5.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report 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 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.25.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:AQN traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $4.45. 6,097,907 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,568,631. Algonquin Power & Utilities has a 52-week low of $4.25 and a 52-week high of $6.79. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $4.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.29. The firm has a market cap of $3.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.45 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

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

Algonquin Power & Utilities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.065 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.84%. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -20.16%.

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.