Scotiabank Lowers Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) Price Target to $6.50

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) had its price objective reduced by equities researchers at Scotiabank from $7.50 to $6.50 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has a “sector perform” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Scotiabank’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 5.61% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Algonquin Power & Utilities from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $7.00 to $7.50 in a report on Monday, January 8th. CIBC upped their target price on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $7.00 to $7.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Algonquin Power & Utilities to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. TD Securities increased their price objective on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Desjardins raised shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $4.75 to $5.75 in a research report on Monday, March 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $7.67.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Price Performance

AQN stock opened at $6.16 on Monday. 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 has a one year low of $4.90 and a one year high of $9.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.24 billion, a PE ratio of 205.00 and a beta of 0.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $6.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.98.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, March 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $666.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was down 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.22 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Algonquin Power & Utilities will post 0.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Algonquin Power & Utilities

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AQN. Pacifica Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 1,975.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 4,150 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 3,950 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 76.3% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,882 shares during the last quarter. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in the third quarter worth $28,000. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in the third quarter worth $62,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in the fourth quarter worth $64,000. Institutional investors own 62.28% of the company’s stock.

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.