Bank of Nova Scotia Lowers Holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. $AQN

Bank of Nova Scotia lessened its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) by 22.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,931,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,344,726 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia owned about 1.03% of Algonquin Power & Utilities worth $48,565,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Group One Trading LLC increased its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 63.3% in the fourth quarter. Group One Trading LLC now owns 7,479 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 2,900 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new position in Algonquin Power & Utilities during the fourth quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new position in Algonquin Power & Utilities during the third quarter worth approximately $56,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upped their target price on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.25 to $6.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. National Bank Financial reduced their price target on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $7.25 to $7.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $7.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $7.00 target price on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $6.81.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Price Performance

Shares of AQN opened at $6.09 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.21. The stock has a market cap of $4.69 billion, a PE ratio of 27.71 and a beta of 0.71. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a 1-year low of $5.32 and a 1-year high of $7.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $713.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $713.69 million. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a net margin of 6.62% and a return on equity of 5.21%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.14 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.36 EPS for the current year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 118.18%.

About Algonquin Power & Utilities

Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp (NYSE: AQN) is a diversified generation, transmission and distribution utility company headquartered in Oakville, Ontario. Established in 1988, the firm operates through two primary business segments: Regulated Utilities and Renewable Energy. Its Regulated Utilities segment comprises electric, natural gas and water distribution networks serving residential, commercial and industrial customers across North America, while its Renewable Energy portfolio includes hydroelectric, solar, wind and thermal generation facilities.

The company’s renewable energy assets span multiple jurisdictions in Canada and the United States, reflecting its strategy to expand clean power capacity in regions with supportive regulatory frameworks.