Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) Shares Purchased by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 31,510,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 544,198 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc.’s holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities were worth $139,845,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities during the third quarter worth about $59,000. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new position in Algonquin Power & Utilities during the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 149.6% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 17,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 10,190 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AQN. National Bankshares dropped their price objective on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.75 to $6.25 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.25 to $5.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $5.50 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $7.00 price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $5.94.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of AQN opened at $4.70 on Tuesday. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a 12-month low of $4.19 and a 12-month high of $6.79. The stock has a market cap of $3.60 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.64 and a beta of 0.65. 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 50-day moving average of $4.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4.81.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.10 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $584.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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, research analysts predict that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.065 per share. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.54%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s payout ratio 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.