First Trust Advisors LP Lowers Position in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. $AQN

First Trust Advisors LP decreased its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) by 18.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,620,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,237,474 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.73% of Algonquin Power & Utilities worth $34,512,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 32.6% in the 4th quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 81,727,385 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $502,563,000 after purchasing an additional 20,074,709 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,456,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $211,871,000 after buying an additional 711,569 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 20,717,144 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $127,395,000 after buying an additional 3,886,254 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 13.0% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 13,633,904 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $83,497,000 after buying an additional 1,563,924 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 65.0% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 12,205,756 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $62,738,000 after buying an additional 4,808,539 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AQN shares. Barclays started coverage on Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $7.00 price target for the company. National Bank Financial cut their price objective on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $7.25 to $7.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce boosted their target price on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.25 to $6.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $7.00 target price for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6.81.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities stock opened at $6.03 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $5.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $6.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a twelve month low of $5.32 and a twelve month high of $7.11. The stock has a market cap of $4.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.39 and a beta of 0.71.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $713.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $713.69 million. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a return on equity of 5.21% and a net margin of 6.62%.During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.14 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.065 per share. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 118.18%.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Profile

Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp (NYSE: AQN) is a diversified generation, transmission and distribution utility company headquartered in Oakville, Ontario. Established in 1988, the firm operates through two primary business segments: Regulated Utilities and Renewable Energy. Its Regulated Utilities segment comprises electric, natural gas and water distribution networks serving residential, commercial and industrial customers across North America, while its Renewable Energy portfolio includes hydroelectric, solar, wind and thermal generation facilities.

The company’s renewable energy assets span multiple jurisdictions in Canada and the United States, reflecting its strategy to expand clean power capacity in regions with supportive regulatory frameworks.