Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Sells 65,446 Shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN – Get Rating) by 20.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 250,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 65,446 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities were worth $1,630,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AQN. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 59.1% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 131,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $856,000 after acquiring an additional 48,758 shares in the last quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities during the fourth quarter valued at $722,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 36.5% during the fourth quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 91,769 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $598,000 after purchasing an additional 24,555 shares during the last quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 432.0% in the 4th quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 156,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,020,000 after buying an additional 127,082 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stockman Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $98,000. 41.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on AQN shares. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Algonquin Power & Utilities in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. TD Securities raised their target price on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 17th. CIBC cut shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $17.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Monday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 12th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Algonquin Power & Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $9.00 to $8.50 in a report on Tuesday, April 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Algonquin Power & Utilities has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.13.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Down 2.3 %

Algonquin Power & Utilities stock opened at $8.33 on Friday. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a twelve month low of $6.41 and a twelve month high of $14.85. The business has a fifty day moving average of $8.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $7.83. The firm has a market cap of $5.74 billion, a P/E ratio of -138.81, a P/E/G ratio of 4.92 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 11th. The utilities provider reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.01. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a positive return on equity of 6.74% and a negative net margin of 1.17%. The firm had revenue of $778.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $770.77 million. On average, analysts forecast that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.216 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 29th. This is a positive change from Algonquin Power & Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.37%. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s payout ratio is -716.55%.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Company Profile

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Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. is an investment holding company, which engages in energy generation and water distribution facilities. It operates through the following business segments: Regulated Services Group, Renewable Energy Group, and Corporate. The Regulated Services Group segment owns and operates a portfolio of electric, natural gas, water distribution, and wastewater collection utility systems and transmission.