National Bank Financial Analysts Cut Earnings Estimates for Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN)

Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) – Stock analysts at National Bank Financial cut their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday, April 14th. National Bank Financial analyst R. Merer now forecasts that the utilities provider will post earnings of $0.49 per share for the year, down from their prior estimate of $0.53. The consensus estimate for Algonquin Power & Utilities’ current full-year earnings is $0.49 per share. National Bank Financial also issued estimates for Algonquin Power & Utilities’ FY2025 earnings at $0.53 EPS.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on AQN. CIBC lifted their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $7.00 to $7.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $7.00 to $7.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised Algonquin Power & Utilities to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets raised Algonquin Power & Utilities from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $7.00 to $7.50 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, TD Securities increased their price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $7.78.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AQN opened at $5.84 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $6.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 194.50 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. Algonquin Power & Utilities has a 52-week low of $4.90 and a 52-week high of $9.14.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, March 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $666.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $661.73 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.22 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 10.8% on a year-over-year basis.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AQN. Norges Bank bought a new position in Algonquin Power & Utilities in the 4th quarter valued at $107,390,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 754.0% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,552,484 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $98,292,000 after buying an additional 13,731,305 shares during the period. FIL Ltd increased its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 94.6% during 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 last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 100.1% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,214,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $77,401,000 after acquiring an additional 4,608,458 shares during the period. Finally, Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Algonquin Power & Utilities in the first quarter valued at about $33,638,000. Institutional investors own 62.28% of the company’s stock.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a dividend of $0.1085 per share. This represents a $0.43 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.44%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 1,433.33%.

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.