Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) Receives $6.13 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $6.13.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AQN. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.75 to $5.25 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $7.00 price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $5.50 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, CIBC lowered their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.75 to $5.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Algonquin Power & Utilities

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 20,882,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $115,175,000 after buying an additional 1,190,236 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 5.1% in the third quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 17,190,084 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $93,918,000 after acquiring an additional 832,739 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 45.5% in the third quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 12,959,770 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $70,806,000 after purchasing an additional 4,054,711 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 7,720,474 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,105,000 after purchasing an additional 447,246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Management Group Inc. increased its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 161.2% during the 4th quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 5,924,983 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,366,000 after purchasing an additional 3,656,840 shares during the last quarter. 62.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AQN opened at $4.46 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $3.42 billion, a PE ratio of -3.45 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $4.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Algonquin Power & Utilities has a 1-year low of $4.19 and a 1-year high of $6.79.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.01). Algonquin Power & Utilities had a positive return on equity of 5.22% and a negative net margin of 39.12%. The business had revenue of $573.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $620.46 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.11 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Algonquin Power & Utilities will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

About Algonquin Power & Utilities

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.