Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) Upgraded to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Tuesday morning.

Several other research firms have also commented on AQN. Scotiabank increased 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 note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $6.00 price target (up previously from $5.00) on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research report on Monday. CIBC reduced their price target 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 reduced their price target 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 target 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. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.03.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Down 1.9%

AQN stock opened at $5.60 on Tuesday. Algonquin Power & Utilities has a 12 month low of $4.19 and a 12 month high of $6.75. The firm has a market cap of $4.30 billion, a PE ratio of -4.34 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

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

Algonquin Power & Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $0.065 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.64%. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s payout ratio is -15.48%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Algonquin Power & Utilities

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barclays PLC increased its stake 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 worth $4,522,000 after purchasing an additional 206,603 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake 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 worth $3,264,000 after purchasing an additional 60,946 shares during the last quarter. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities during the 4th quarter worth $141,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake 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 worth $3,055,000 after purchasing an additional 28,548 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Krilogy Financial LLC increased its stake 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 worth $7,214,000 after purchasing an additional 873,045 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.28% of the company’s stock.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Company 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.