Gabelli Funds LLC Increases Position in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. $AQN

Gabelli Funds LLC raised its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) by 53.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,156,643 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 751,143 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities were worth $12,358,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 84.9% in the first quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 42,223,594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $216,868,000 after purchasing an additional 19,392,805 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,715,401 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $162,859,000 after buying an additional 204,473 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 0.7% during the first quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 13,139,562 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,487,000 after buying an additional 88,439 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in 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 valued at $62,738,000 after buying an additional 4,808,539 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Southpoint Capital Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in the 1st quarter worth $51,400,000. 62.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Securities raised shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Janney Montgomery Scott set a $7.00 target price on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Desjardins increased their price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.25 to $6.75 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $6.59.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of AQN stock opened at $5.78 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.23. The firm has a market cap of $4.44 billion, a P/E ratio of -144.34 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $5.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.80. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a one year low of $4.19 and a one year high of $6.48.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.03. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a positive return on equity of 5.14% and a negative net margin of 1.11%.The company had revenue of $600.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $596.67 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.065 dividend. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s payout ratio is currently -650.00%.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Company 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.