Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $6.03.

AQN has been the topic of several research reports. CIBC dropped their price target on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.50 to $5.25 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $6.00 price target (up previously from $5.00) on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a report on Monday, May 12th. National Bankshares dropped their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Algonquin Power & Utilities

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AQN. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 33.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 829,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,522,000 after acquiring an additional 206,603 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 644,652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,264,000 after acquiring an additional 60,946 shares in the last quarter. Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities during the 4th quarter valued at $141,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 686,612 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,055,000 after acquiring an additional 28,548 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Krilogy Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 116.7% during the 4th quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 1,621,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,214,000 after acquiring an additional 873,045 shares in the last quarter. 62.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Price Performance

NYSE AQN opened at $5.59 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.29 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.33 and a beta of 0.67. Algonquin Power & Utilities has a 1 year low of $4.19 and a 1 year high of $6.75. The business’s fifty day moving average is $5.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $692.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $699.08 million. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a positive return on equity of 5.22% and a negative net margin of 39.12%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.14 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Algonquin Power & Utilities will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.065 per share. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s payout ratio is -15.48%.

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.