Royal Bank of Canada Reaffirms “Sector Perform” Rating for Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN)

Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed their sector perform rating on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $7.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. National Bankshares increased their price target on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.75 to $7.25 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities to a sell rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. CIBC raised their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $7.50 to $7.70 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Desjardins raised their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.25 to $5.50 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $8.00 to $8.50 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Algonquin Power & Utilities presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $7.38.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of AQN stock opened at $6.29 on Wednesday. Algonquin Power & Utilities has a 12 month low of $4.90 and a 12 month high of $8.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The business’s 50 day moving average is $6.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $6.13. The company has a market cap of $4.82 billion, a PE ratio of -12.83 and a beta of 0.66.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 10th. The utilities provider reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.01). Algonquin Power & Utilities had a negative net margin of 12.44% and a positive return on equity of 5.39%. The company had revenue of $737.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $813.38 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.17 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Algonquin Power & Utilities will post 0.46 EPS for the current year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a $0.108 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $0.43 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.87%. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -87.76%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AQN. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,248,892 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $165,893,000 after acquiring an additional 262,333 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 754.0% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,552,484 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $98,292,000 after acquiring an additional 13,731,305 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 10,226,131 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,521,000 after acquiring an additional 542,696 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 6.5% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 10,223,412 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,050,000 after acquiring an additional 620,593 shares during the period. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,962,219 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,309,000 after acquiring an additional 114,060 shares during the period. 62.28% of the stock is 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.