BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Increases Stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) by 156.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,905,059 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,426,523 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp owned about 1.16% of Algonquin Power & Utilities worth $52,341,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 76.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in the 2nd quarter valued at about $61,000. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $66,000. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities during the 1st quarter worth approximately $76,000. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities during the first quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AQN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James lowered shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $7.75 to $7.00 in a report on Monday, August 12th. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $6.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $8.50 to $6.00 in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Algonquin Power & Utilities currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $6.33.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Price Performance

NYSE:AQN opened at $5.58 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $5.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.98. The firm has a market cap of $4.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.38 and a beta of 0.67. 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 Corp. has a one year low of $4.90 and a one year high of $6.90.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.01. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a return on equity of 5.36% and a net margin of 4.70%. The firm had revenue of $598.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $635.95 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.43 EPS for the current year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.065 per share. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -53.06%.

Algonquin Power & Utilities 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.