Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Sells 126,937 Shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lessened its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN - Free Report) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,895,900 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 126,937 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.25% of Algonquin Power & Utilities worth $8,404,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FIL Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 85.6% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 40,886,793 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $181,473,000 after acquiring an additional 18,857,515 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities during the 4th quarter worth about $31,508,000. Private Management Group Inc. lifted its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 161.2% during the 4th quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 5,924,983 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $26,366,000 after purchasing an additional 3,656,840 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 85.5% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,730,749 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $16,539,000 after purchasing an additional 1,719,928 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 83.2% in the fourth quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 2,858,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $12,718,000 after buying an additional 1,298,030 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.28% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AQN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target 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. CIBC decreased their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.50 to $5.25 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. National Bankshares decreased their price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.75 to $6.25 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.25 to $5.50 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Algonquin Power & Utilities presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $5.92.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE AQN traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $5.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,275,945 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,490,295. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $4.19 and a fifty-two week high of $6.79. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.09 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.10 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $584.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $644.73 million. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a negative net margin of 39.12% and a positive return on equity of 5.22%. Equities research analysts predict that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.065 dividend. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Algonquin Power & Utilities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.