Scotia Capital Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN)

Scotia Capital Inc. trimmed its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) by 20.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,927,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 486,850 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities were worth $8,552,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Krilogy Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 116.7% during the fourth quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 1,621,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,214,000 after buying an additional 873,045 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities during the 4th quarter worth $905,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 1,250,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,562,000 after purchasing an additional 250,000 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,510,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $139,845,000 after purchasing an additional 544,198 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 12.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,179,465 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,808,000 after purchasing an additional 128,806 shares during the last quarter. 62.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AQN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank raised their price target on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.25 to $5.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note 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 report on Tuesday, February 11th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $5.50 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $7.00 price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Algonquin Power & Utilities has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $5.94.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities stock opened at $4.88 on Friday. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a twelve month low of $4.19 and a twelve month high of $6.79. The stock has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.78 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $4.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.79.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, March 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.10 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $584.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $644.73 million. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a positive return on equity of 5.22% and a negative net margin of 39.12%. Equities research analysts forecast that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.065 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.33%. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is currently -14.44%.

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.