Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 11,229 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $61,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 151.4% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 27,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $176,000 after acquiring an additional 16,800 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities during the 1st quarter valued at about $4,887,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,248,892 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $165,893,000 after purchasing an additional 262,333 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 6.5% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 10,223,412 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,050,000 after purchasing an additional 620,593 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 5.9% in the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,341,745 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,483,000 after buying an additional 74,935 shares during the period. 62.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AQN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. National Bank Financial raised shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Desjardins decreased their price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.50 to $5.25 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $6.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James lowered Algonquin Power & Utilities from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $7.75 to $7.00 in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $5.50 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Algonquin Power & Utilities currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.18.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Trading Down 2.9 %

NYSE AQN opened at $4.78 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.72. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a 12 month low of $4.67 and a 12 month high of $6.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.70 and a beta of 0.68.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.01). Algonquin Power & Utilities had a negative net margin of 39.12% and a positive return on equity of 5.11%. The firm had revenue of $573.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $620.46 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.065 dividend. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is presently -20.15%.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Profile

Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. operates in the power and utility industries in the United States, Canada, and other regions. The company operates in two segments, Regulated Services Group and Renewable Energy Group. The company primarily owns and operates a regulated electric, water distribution and wastewater collection, and natural gas utility systems and transmission operations.