Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) Price Target Cut to $5.50 by Analysts at CIBC

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) had its price objective lowered by CIBC from $5.75 to $5.50 in a research report report published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on AQN. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $6.00 price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $5.50 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.50 to $5.75 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. National Bank Financial upgraded Algonquin Power & Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Raymond James cut Algonquin Power & Utilities from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $7.75 to $7.00 in a research report on Monday, August 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.23.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AQN opened at $4.92 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $5.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.03 and a beta of 0.66. Algonquin Power & Utilities has a 1-year low of $4.88 and a 1-year high of $6.79.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $635.95 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Algonquin Power & Utilities will post 0.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.065 per share. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is presently -53.06%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Algonquin Power & Utilities

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AQN. Krilogy Financial LLC increased its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 0.3% during the second quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 707,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,143,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 14.1% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 17,769 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 2,201 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 108,564 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $636,000 after purchasing an additional 4,300 shares during the period. Value Partners Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 31.8% in the first quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 18,338 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 4,428 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 25.7% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 28,704 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $179,000 after purchasing an additional 5,863 shares during the period. 62.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Algonquin Power & Utilities

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.