West Family Investments Inc. Makes New Investment in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN)

West Family Investments Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 11,369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $72,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pacifica Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 1,975.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 4,150 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 3,950 shares during the period. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $64,000. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. purchased a new stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities during the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Algonquin Power & Utilities in the fourth quarter worth approximately $70,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on AQN. TD Securities lifted their target price on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Desjardins raised shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $4.75 to $5.75 in a research note on Monday, March 11th. National Bankshares reduced their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $7.50 to $7.25 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Algonquin Power & Utilities to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, CIBC increased their price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $7.00 to $7.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Algonquin Power & Utilities presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.67.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of AQN stock traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $6.54. The stock had a trading volume of 7,890,855 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,942,929. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 217.33 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.50. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a 12-month low of $4.90 and a 12-month high of $9.14. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $6.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $6.00.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, March 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $666.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $661.73 million. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a net margin of 1.06% and a return on equity of 5.64%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.22 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a $0.1085 dividend. This represents a $0.43 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s payout ratio is 1,433.33%.

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.