Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) Upgraded to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) to a sell rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on AQN. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Algonquin Power & Utilities from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $7.00 to $7.50 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. CIBC upped their price objective on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $7.00 to $7.50 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. TD Securities upped their price objective on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $7.00 to $7.50 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Desjardins raised Algonquin Power & Utilities from a sell rating to a hold rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $4.75 to $5.75 in a report on Monday, March 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $7.85.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE AQN opened at $5.76 on Wednesday. Algonquin Power & Utilities has a 52 week low of $4.90 and a 52 week high of $9.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 191.83 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $6.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5.97.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a return on equity of 5.64% and a net margin of 1.06%. The company had revenue of $666.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $661.73 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.22 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Algonquin Power & Utilities will post 0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a $0.1085 dividend. This represents a $0.43 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is 1,433.33%.

Institutional Trading of Algonquin Power & Utilities

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of AQN. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 720,888 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,188,000 after purchasing an additional 1,979 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 31.1% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 42,274 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $656,000 after purchasing an additional 10,029 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities during the 1st quarter worth $250,000. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 39.8% during the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 19,708 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 5,608 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 57,813.0% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 422,186 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,552,000 after purchasing an additional 421,457 shares in the last quarter. 62.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Company 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.