Norges Bank Buys Shares of 7,108,059 Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN)

Norges Bank purchased a new position in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 7,108,059 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $31,508,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mufg Securities Canada LTD. boosted its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 72.1% in the 4th quarter. Mufg Securities Canada LTD. now owns 1,171,588 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,197,000 after purchasing an additional 490,829 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,510,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $139,845,000 after acquiring an additional 544,198 shares during the last quarter. Guardian Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities during the fourth quarter worth about $653,000. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 728,307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,241,000 after purchasing an additional 103,217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. lifted its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 50,251 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 3,096 shares during the last quarter. 62.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AQN shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $5.50 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $7.00 price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.25 to $5.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, National Bankshares dropped their target price on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.75 to $6.25 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $5.94.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Performance

NYSE:AQN opened at $4.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.92. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $4.19 and a fifty-two week high of $6.79. The firm has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a PE ratio of -3.76 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $4.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $4.82.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.10 by ($0.04). Algonquin Power & Utilities had a negative net margin of 39.12% and a positive return on equity of 5.22%. The firm had revenue of $584.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $644.73 million. Equities research analysts predict that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.065 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.37%. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is presently -14.44%.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Profile

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