Geode Capital Management LLC Acquires 61,015 Shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN)

Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN - Free Report) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,240,480 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 61,015 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 0.16% of Algonquin Power & Utilities worth $5,520,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AQN. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,510,928 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $139,845,000 after buying an additional 544,198 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,508,000. Private Management Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 161.2% during the fourth quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 5,924,983 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $26,366,000 after purchasing an additional 3,656,840 shares during the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp lifted its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 5,052,789 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $22,458,000 after purchasing an additional 402,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 85.5% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,730,749 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $16,539,000 after purchasing an additional 1,719,928 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.28% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. CIBC cut their target price on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.50 to $5.25 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of 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. National Bankshares lowered their target price on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.75 to $6.25 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $5.50 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Algonquin Power & Utilities has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $5.92.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Price Performance

AQN stock traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $5.37. The stock had a trading volume of 7,771,338 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,511,106. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a 52 week low of $4.19 and a 52 week high of $6.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.16 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. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4.79.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN - Get Free Report) last released 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 firm had revenue of $584.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $644.73 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.065 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.84%. Algonquin Power & Utilities's dividend payout ratio is presently -14.44%.

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.