Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) Price Target Cut to $6.50 by Analysts at Scotiabank

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) had its target price lowered by Scotiabank from $7.50 to $6.50 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a sector perform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. National Bankshares cut their price target on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $7.50 to $7.25 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Algonquin Power & Utilities from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and increased their price objective for the company from $7.00 to $7.50 in a report on Monday, January 8th. TD Securities increased their price objective on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. CIBC increased their price objective on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $7.00 to $7.50 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Desjardins upgraded Algonquin Power & Utilities from a sell rating to a hold rating and increased their price objective for the company from $4.75 to $5.75 in a report on Monday, March 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $7.67.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AQN opened at $6.17 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $6.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.99. 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 has a 1-year low of $4.90 and a 1-year high of $9.14. The company has a market cap of $4.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 205.50 and a beta of 0.66.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a return on equity of 5.64% and a net margin of 1.06%. The company had revenue of $666.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $661.73 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.22 EPS. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s revenue was down 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Algonquin Power & Utilities will post 0.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a dividend of $0.1085 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.43 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.04%. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s payout ratio is 1,433.33%.

Institutional Trading of Algonquin Power & Utilities

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AQN. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 79,789 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $472,000 after buying an additional 6,931 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $70,000. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 2,042,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,313,000 after buying an additional 149,700 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden lifted its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 18.8% in the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 439,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,613,000 after buying an additional 69,500 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 313.3% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 770,885 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,584,000 after buying an additional 584,358 shares during the period. 62.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.