Mufg Securities Canada LTD. Increases Position in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN)

Mufg Securities Canada LTD. grew its position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) by 72.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,171,588 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 490,829 shares during the period. Mufg Securities Canada LTD.’s holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities were worth $5,197,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AQN. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities during the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities during the third quarter worth approximately $58,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in the 4th quarter worth approximately $58,000. Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in the 3rd quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities during the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. 62.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AQN shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $5.50 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.25 to $5.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $7.00 price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, National Bankshares cut their target price on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.75 to $6.25 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $5.94.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Performance

NYSE:AQN opened at $5.11 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a twelve month low of $4.19 and a twelve month high of $6.79. The stock has a market cap of $3.92 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.96 and a beta of 0.71. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $4.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.83.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, March 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by ($0.04). 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 $584.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $644.73 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.065 dividend. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s payout ratio is presently -14.44%.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Profile

Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. is an investment holding company, which engages in energy generation and water distribution facilities. It operates through the Regulated Services Group and Renewable Energy Group segments. The Regulated Services Group segment owns and operates a portfolio of electric, natural gas, water distribution, and wastewater collection utility systems and transmission.