Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) Short Interest Update

Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 25,030,000 shares, a growth of 36.6% from the February 28th total of 18,330,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 9,630,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days. Currently, 3.3% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Starboard Value LP increased its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Starboard Value LP now owns 65,316,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $290,656,000 after buying an additional 3,175,000 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 85.6% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 40,886,793 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $181,473,000 after acquiring an additional 18,857,515 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,510,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $139,845,000 after acquiring an additional 544,198 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 32.8% during the fourth quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 22,830,789 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $101,202,000 after acquiring an additional 5,640,705 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 0.6% during the fourth 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 period. 62.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Up 0.5 %

AQN stock traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $5.16. 1,211,713 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,824,658. The stock has a market cap of $3.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.96 and a beta of 0.71. Algonquin Power & Utilities has a fifty-two week low of $4.19 and a fifty-two week high of $6.79. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $4.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $4.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

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 company 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Algonquin Power & Utilities will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.04%. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is currently -14.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank increased their target price 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. National Bankshares lowered their target price on shares of 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. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $5.50 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $7.00 price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Algonquin Power & Utilities has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $5.94.

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.