Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Grows Stock Position in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,303,614 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 92,373 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities were worth $10,219,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AQN. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Algonquin Power & Utilities in the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Algonquin Power & Utilities in the 3rd quarter valued at about $58,000. Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new position in Algonquin Power & Utilities in the 3rd quarter valued at about $59,000. Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new position in Algonquin Power & Utilities in the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 33.4% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 13,343 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 3,343 shares in the last quarter. 62.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AQN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $5.50 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $7.00 price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.25 to $5.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, National Bankshares dropped their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.75 to $6.25 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given 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, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $5.94.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE AQN opened at $5.13 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.93 billion, a PE ratio of -3.97 and a beta of 0.70. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $4.19 and a fifty-two week high of $6.79. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $4.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $584.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $644.73 million. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a positive return on equity of 5.22% and a negative net margin of 39.12%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.065 per share. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -14.44%.

About Algonquin Power & Utilities

Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. is an investment holding company, which engages in energy generation and water distribution facilities. It operates through the Regulated Services Group and Renewable Energy Group segments. The Regulated Services Group segment owns and operates a portfolio of electric, natural gas, water distribution, and wastewater collection utility systems and transmission.