National Bank of Canada FI Buys 516,148 Shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN)

National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,602,819 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 516,148 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned 1.39% of Algonquin Power & Utilities worth $61,848,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. West Family Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in the fourth quarter worth $72,000. Pursue Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in the 4th quarter valued at about $165,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,962,219 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,309,000 after acquiring an additional 114,060 shares during the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 25,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $160,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 120.9% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 48,062 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $304,000 after purchasing an additional 26,307 shares in the last quarter. 62.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on AQN. National Bankshares cut their price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $7.50 to $7.25 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. CIBC raised their price target on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $7.00 to $7.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $7.50 to $6.50 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Desjardins upgraded Algonquin Power & Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $4.75 to $5.75 in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $7.00 to $7.50 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.67.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:AQN traded up $0.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $6.54. 7,890,870 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,349,525. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a 52-week low of $4.90 and a 52-week high of $9.14. The business’s fifty day moving average is $6.09 and its 200-day moving average is $6.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 218.00 and a beta of 0.66.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $666.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $661.73 million. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a net margin of 1.06% and a return on equity of 5.64%. The company’s revenue was down 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.22 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.48 EPS for the current year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a $0.1085 dividend. This represents a $0.43 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.64%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.