Brokerages Set Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) Price Target at $7.67

Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $7.67.

AQN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $7.50 to $6.50 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Desjardins upgraded Algonquin Power & Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $4.75 to $5.75 in a research report on Monday, March 11th. TD Securities upped their price objective on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Algonquin Power & Utilities to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd.

Institutional Trading of Algonquin Power & Utilities

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pacifica Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 1,975.0% during 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 period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 76.3% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,882 shares in the last quarter. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in the third quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities during the fourth quarter worth about $64,000. 62.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of AQN opened at $6.61 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 220.33 and a beta of 0.66. Algonquin Power & Utilities has a 52 week low of $4.90 and a 52 week high of $9.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.63. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $6.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $6.04.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $666.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $661.73 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Algonquin Power & Utilities will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a $0.1085 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.43 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.57%. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.