The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Purchases 447,246 Shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,720,474 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 447,246 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 1.01% of Algonquin Power & Utilities worth $42,105,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Krilogy Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 707,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,143,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 17,769 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 2,201 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 33.4% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 13,343 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 3,343 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its stake 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 valued at $636,000 after acquiring an additional 4,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 25.7% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 28,704 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $179,000 after acquiring an additional 5,863 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.28% of the company’s stock.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AQN opened at $4.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.59. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $4.67 and a fifty-two week high of $6.79. The company has a market capitalization of $3.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.78 and a beta of 0.68.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.01). Algonquin Power & Utilities had a negative net margin of 39.12% and a positive return on equity of 5.22%. The company had revenue of $573.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $620.46 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.11 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.065 per share. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.33%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -20.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AQN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James lowered Algonquin Power & Utilities from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $7.75 to $7.00 in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $5.50 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $6.00 price target for the company. Desjardins lowered their price target on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.50 to $5.25 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $6.00 price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research report on Friday, October 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.18.

Algonquin Power & Utilities 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.