Credit Industriel ET Commercial Acquires New Holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN)

Credit Industriel ET Commercial purchased a new stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 130,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $578,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FIL Ltd boosted its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 85.6% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 40,886,793 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $181,473,000 after purchasing an additional 18,857,515 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,510,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $139,845,000 after acquiring an additional 544,198 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 21,000,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $93,090,000 after acquiring an additional 117,757 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities during the 4th quarter valued at $31,508,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,898,735 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,699,000 after purchasing an additional 70,774 shares in the last quarter. 62.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of AQN opened at $5.24 on Thursday. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $4.19 and a fifty-two week high of $6.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company’s fifty day moving average is $5.00 and its 200 day moving average is $4.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.02 billion, a PE ratio of -4.06 and a beta of 0.65.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last announced its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $584.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $644.73 million. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a negative net margin of 39.12% and a positive return on equity of 5.22%. Sell-side analysts expect that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.96%. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is presently -14.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on AQN shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on 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. Scotiabank raised 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 report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, National Bankshares dropped their price objective on 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 assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $5.94.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Profile

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.