Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) Shares Purchased by Bank of Montreal Can

Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) by 6.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,882,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,190,236 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned about 2.72% of Algonquin Power & Utilities worth $115,175,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AQN. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,248,892 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $165,893,000 after acquiring an additional 262,333 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 10,565,940 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $61,759,000 after purchasing an additional 342,528 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 156.0% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 8,905,059 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,341,000 after buying an additional 5,426,523 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 320.6% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 7,273,228 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,633,000 after acquiring an additional 5,544,063 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 31.2% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,956,389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,989,000 after purchasing an additional 1,415,889 shares during the period. 62.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. National Bank Financial upgraded Algonquin Power & Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Desjardins lowered their price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.50 to $5.25 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. 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 note on Friday, October 11th. CIBC lowered their target price on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.75 to $5.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Raymond James cut Algonquin Power & Utilities from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $7.75 to $7.00 in a research note on Monday, August 12th. One equities 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.18.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Performance

Algonquin Power & Utilities stock opened at $4.76 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a 12 month low of $4.67 and a 12 month high of $6.79. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $5.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.61. The company has a market cap of $3.65 billion, a PE ratio of -3.69 and a beta of 0.68.

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

Algonquin Power & Utilities Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.065 per share. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.46%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s payout ratio is -20.16%.

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.