Norges Bank Purchases New Stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN)

Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 7,108,059 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $31,508,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 0.93% of Algonquin Power & Utilities at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Krilogy Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 116.7% during the fourth quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 1,621,045 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $7,214,000 after purchasing an additional 873,045 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Algonquin Power & Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $905,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 10.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,211,241 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $12,095,000 after buying an additional 206,490 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 25.0% in the fourth quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 1,250,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,562,000 after buying an additional 250,000 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $139,845,000 after buying an additional 544,198 shares during the period. 62.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AQN. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective 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. National Bankshares decreased their target price on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.75 to $6.25 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.25 to $5.50 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $7.00 target price on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Algonquin Power & Utilities presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $5.94.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Trading Down 1.4 %

AQN traded down $0.07 during trading on Thursday, reaching $4.84. 2,688,988 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,563,255. 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 Corp. has a one year low of $4.19 and a one year high of $6.79. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $4.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.71 billion, a PE ratio of -3.75 and a beta of 0.65.

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 (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $644.73 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.37%. Algonquin Power & Utilities's payout ratio is -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.