Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

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

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AQN shares. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $6.00 target price (up previously from $5.00) on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research report on Monday, May 12th. CIBC reduced their target price on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.50 to $5.25 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. National Bankshares cut 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 report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped 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.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities stock opened at $5.61 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $5.25 and a 200-day moving average of $4.85. The stock has a market cap of $4.31 billion, a PE ratio of -4.35 and a beta of 0.67. Algonquin Power & Utilities has a 52-week low of $4.19 and a 52-week high of $6.75. 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 announced its earnings results on Friday, May 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $692.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $699.08 million. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a negative net margin of 39.12% and a positive return on equity of 5.22%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.14 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Algonquin Power & Utilities will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.065 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.63%. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is -15.48%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AQN. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 33.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 829,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,522,000 after acquiring an additional 206,603 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 10.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 644,652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,264,000 after acquiring an additional 60,946 shares in the last quarter. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new position in Algonquin Power & Utilities during the fourth quarter worth about $141,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 686,612 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,055,000 after acquiring an additional 28,548 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Krilogy Financial LLC raised its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 116.7% during the fourth quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 1,621,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,214,000 after acquiring an additional 873,045 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.28% of the company’s stock.

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.