Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $7.67.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AQN shares. StockNews.com raised Algonquin Power & Utilities to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. National Bankshares decreased their price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $7.50 to $7.25 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $7.00 to $7.50 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Desjardins raised shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $4.75 to $5.75 in a research note on Monday, March 11th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AQN. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities during the first quarter worth approximately $76,000. Value Partners Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 31.8% during the 1st quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 18,338 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $116,000 after buying an additional 4,428 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 151.4% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 27,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $176,000 after buying an additional 16,800 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 63.0% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 289,670 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,831,000 after acquiring an additional 111,993 shares during the period. Finally, Krilogy Financial LLC lifted its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 38.8% during the 1st quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 705,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,457,000 after acquiring an additional 197,200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.28% of the company’s stock.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Price Performance

NYSE AQN opened at $6.54 on Friday. Algonquin Power & Utilities has a 1 year low of $4.90 and a 1 year high of $9.14. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $6.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $6.01. The company has a market cap of $4.51 billion, a PE ratio of 217.83 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a net margin of 1.06% and a return on equity of 5.64%. The business had revenue of $666.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $661.73 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.22 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Algonquin Power & Utilities will post 0.48 EPS for the current year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a $0.1085 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.43 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.64%. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 1,433.33%.

About Algonquin Power & Utilities

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.