Gabelli Funds LLC Buys 150,750 Shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN)

Gabelli Funds LLC raised its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN - Free Report) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,517,250 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 150,750 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC owned approximately 0.20% of Algonquin Power & Utilities worth $6,752,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FIL Ltd grew its position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 85.6% in the 4th 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 in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,508,000. Private Management Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $26,366,000 after acquiring an additional 3,656,840 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,719,928 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 592.9% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,312,392 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,840,000 after purchasing an additional 1,122,992 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.28% of the company's stock.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities stock traded up $0.09 on Tuesday, hitting $5.41. The company had a trading volume of 2,122,535 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,870,727. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.19 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.92. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a 1 year low of $4.19 and a 1 year high of $6.79. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $4.98 and a 200-day moving average of $4.78.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN - Get Free Report) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $584.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $644.73 million. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a negative net margin of 39.12% and a positive return on equity of 5.22%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.065 dividend. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.81%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Algonquin Power & Utilities's payout ratio is currently -14.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AQN shares. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of 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. Royal Bank of Canada lowered 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 report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, National Bankshares decreased their price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.75 to $6.25 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $5.94.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Company 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.