Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Sell”

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Saturday.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Desjardins increased their target price on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.25 to $6.75 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, TD Securities upgraded shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Algonquin Power & Utilities currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $6.50.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Up 0.4%

AQN opened at $5.98 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $5.69 and a 200 day moving average of $5.63. The company has a market cap of $4.59 billion, a PE ratio of -3.32 and a beta of 0.72. Algonquin Power & Utilities has a 12 month low of $4.19 and a 12 month high of $6.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.04. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a negative net margin of 57.66% and a positive return on equity of 4.76%. The business had revenue of $535.59 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $535.64 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.09 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Algonquin Power & Utilities will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.065 per share. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 29th. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s payout ratio is currently -14.44%.

Institutional Trading of Algonquin Power & Utilities

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 74,271 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $424,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 16.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,809 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 2,073 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 10.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 23,484 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $135,000 after acquiring an additional 2,242 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 85.7% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,887 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 2,256 shares during the period. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 114,834 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $583,000 after purchasing an additional 5,693 shares during the period. 62.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.