Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) Rating Increased to Sell at StockNews.com

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com to a “sell” rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on AQN. TD Securities upped their price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. National Bankshares cut 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 research 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 target for the company from $7.00 to $7.50 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Desjardins upgraded shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $4.75 to $5.75 in a report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $7.00 to $7.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Algonquin Power & Utilities presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $7.78.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Trading Up 1.3 %

Algonquin Power & Utilities stock opened at $5.84 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 194.50 and a beta of 0.66. Algonquin Power & Utilities has a fifty-two week low of $4.90 and a fifty-two week high of $9.14. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $6.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last released its earnings results on Friday, March 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $666.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $661.73 million. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a return on equity of 5.64% and a net margin of 1.06%. The firm’s revenue was down 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.22 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Algonquin Power & Utilities will post 0.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Algonquin Power & Utilities

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,986,559 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $164,235,000 after buying an additional 268,800 shares during the period. FIL Ltd lifted its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 94.6% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 21,685,436 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $136,818,000 after buying an additional 10,541,240 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities in the fourth quarter worth about $107,390,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 754.0% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,552,484 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $98,292,000 after buying an additional 13,731,305 shares during the period. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 7.9% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 13,293,748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $78,699,000 after buying an additional 978,758 shares during the period. 62.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.