Royal Bank of Canada Lowers Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) Price Target to $5.50

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) had its target price reduced by equities research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $6.00 to $5.50 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “sector perform” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 13.05% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. CIBC lowered their price objective on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.75 to $5.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $7.00 price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. National Bankshares dropped their target price on 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, Scotiabank increased their price target on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.25 to $5.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Algonquin Power & Utilities currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.00.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Price Performance

NYSE AQN traded up $0.03 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $4.87. 2,016,709 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,099,098. The company has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.77 and a beta of 0.69. Algonquin Power & Utilities has a 12-month low of $4.19 and a 12-month high of $6.79. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $4.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AQN. FIL Ltd lifted its position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 85.6% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 40,886,793 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $181,473,000 after buying an additional 18,857,515 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Algonquin Power & Utilities during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,508,000. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $101,202,000 after acquiring an additional 5,640,705 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 45.5% during the third quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 12,959,770 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,806,000 after buying an additional 4,054,711 shares during the period. Finally, Private Management Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 161.2% in the 4th quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 5,924,983 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,366,000 after acquiring an additional 3,656,840 shares during the period. 62.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.