Natl Bk Canada Upgrades Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) to Strong-Buy

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) was upgraded by analysts at Natl Bk Canada from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on AQN. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Wall Street Zen raised Algonquin Power & Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $6.50 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Desjardins increased their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.25 to $6.75 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6.70.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Trading Up 3.2%

Shares of AQN stock opened at $6.41 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -160.23 and a beta of 0.75. Algonquin Power & Utilities has a 12-month low of $4.19 and a 12-month high of $6.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $6.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.86.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.03. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a negative net margin of 1.11% and a positive return on equity of 5.14%. The company had revenue of $600.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $596.67 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.08 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Algonquin Power & Utilities will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 61,652,676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $331,292,000 after purchasing an additional 4,888,235 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 3.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,744,586 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $181,377,000 after buying an additional 1,086,040 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 12.5% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 16,830,890 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $90,441,000 after buying an additional 1,863,459 shares during the period. Ariel Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 88.6% in the second quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 13,112,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $75,137,000 after buying an additional 6,160,490 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 65.0% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 12,205,756 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $62,738,000 after acquiring an additional 4,808,539 shares during the last quarter. 62.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Company Profile

Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp (NYSE: AQN) is a diversified generation, transmission and distribution utility company headquartered in Oakville, Ontario. Established in 1988, the firm operates through two primary business segments: Regulated Utilities and Renewable Energy. Its Regulated Utilities segment comprises electric, natural gas and water distribution networks serving residential, commercial and industrial customers across North America, while its Renewable Energy portfolio includes hydroelectric, solar, wind and thermal generation facilities.

The company’s renewable energy assets span multiple jurisdictions in Canada and the United States, reflecting its strategy to expand clean power capacity in regions with supportive regulatory frameworks.