Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $6.33.

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $6.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $8.50 to $6.00 in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Raymond James lowered shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $7.75 to $7.00 in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.50 to $5.75 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Performance

AQN stock opened at $5.16 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.53 and a beta of 0.66. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.93. Algonquin Power & Utilities has a one year low of $4.90 and a one year high of $6.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $598.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $635.95 million. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a net margin of 4.70% and a return on equity of 5.36%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.08 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Algonquin Power & Utilities will post 0.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $0.065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.04%. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s payout ratio is currently -53.06%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AQN. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 76.3% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,882 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities during the 3rd quarter worth $54,000. Claro Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities during the 2nd quarter worth $61,000. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities during the 2nd quarter worth $66,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities in the 1st quarter valued at about $76,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.28% of the company’s stock.

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.