Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

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

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on AQN. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Desjardins upped their target price on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.25 to $6.75 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, TD Securities raised Algonquin Power & Utilities to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.55.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AQN opened at $5.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $4.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.09 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $5.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5.70. Algonquin Power & Utilities has a one year low of $4.19 and a one year high of $6.24.

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

Algonquin Power & Utilities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were paid a $0.065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 29th. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -14.44%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AQN. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in Algonquin Power & Utilities in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $288,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 25.9% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 104,156 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $535,000 after acquiring an additional 21,401 shares during the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. bought a new position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities during the first quarter valued at $51,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities during the first quarter worth $13,293,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 15.1% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,479,301 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,884,000 after purchasing an additional 455,471 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.28% of the company’s stock.

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.