Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $6.03.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday. National Bankshares cut their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.75 to $6.25 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $6.00 price objective (up from $5.00) on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a report on Monday. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Algonquin Power & Utilities

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 16.3% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,809 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 2,073 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 85.7% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,887 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 2,256 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 50,251 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $223,000 after buying an additional 3,096 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 935,130 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,141,000 after buying an additional 3,656 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 40.5% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 17,555 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 5,060 shares during the period. 62.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AQN opened at $5.60 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.30 billion, a PE ratio of -4.34 and a beta of 0.67. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $5.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4.83. Algonquin Power & Utilities has a one year low of $4.19 and a one year 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 issued its earnings results on Friday, May 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $692.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period last year, the company posted $0.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Algonquin Power & Utilities will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Announces Dividend

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