50,315 Shares in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) Acquired by Nomura Holdings Inc.

Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 50,315 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $318,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AQN. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 166.5% in the fourth quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,266,810 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,997,000 after buying an additional 791,410 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,986,559 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $164,235,000 after purchasing an additional 268,800 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 754.0% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,552,484 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $98,292,000 after purchasing an additional 13,731,305 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Finally, Troluce Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 55.8% in the fourth quarter. Troluce Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,500,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,480,000 after purchasing an additional 537,325 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AQN shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $7.50 to $6.50 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. TD Securities boosted their target price on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $8.00 to $8.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, National Bankshares boosted their target price on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.75 to $7.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Algonquin Power & Utilities currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $7.47.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Price Performance

NYSE:AQN opened at $5.77 on Friday. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a one year low of $4.90 and a one year high of $8.51. The company has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.78 and a beta of 0.68. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $6.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $6.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 10th. The utilities provider reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $737.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $813.38 million. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a negative net margin of 12.44% and a positive return on equity of 5.39%. The company’s revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.17 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a $0.108 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $0.43 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.49%. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s payout ratio is presently -87.76%.

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.