Brokerages Set Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) PT at $7.85

Shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $7.85.

AQN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Desjardins upgraded Algonquin Power & Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $4.75 to $5.75 in a research report on Monday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $7.00 to $7.50 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. TD Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $7.00 to $7.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, National Bankshares decreased their price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $7.50 to $7.25 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AQN opened at $5.81 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 193.67 and a beta of 0.66. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $6.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.98. Algonquin Power & Utilities has a fifty-two week low of $4.90 and a fifty-two week high of $9.14. 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 (NYSE:AQN) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 1.06% and a return on equity of 5.64%. The company had revenue of $666.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $661.73 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.22 EPS. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s revenue was down 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Algonquin Power & Utilities will post 0.5 EPS for the current year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a $0.1085 dividend. This represents a $0.43 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is 1,433.33%.

Institutional Trading of Algonquin Power & Utilities

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,986,559 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $164,235,000 after buying an additional 268,800 shares during the period. FIL Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 94.6% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 21,685,436 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $136,818,000 after purchasing an additional 10,541,240 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in the fourth quarter worth approximately $107,390,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $98,292,000 after purchasing an additional 13,731,305 shares during the period. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank grew its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 7.9% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 13,293,748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $78,699,000 after purchasing an additional 978,758 shares in the last quarter. 62.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.