BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Grows Position in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN - Free Report) by 156.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,905,059 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,426,523 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp owned about 1.16% of Algonquin Power & Utilities worth $52,341,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AQN. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 754.0% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,552,484 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $98,292,000 after purchasing an additional 13,731,305 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Algonquin Power & Utilities in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,322,000. Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 851.0% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 3,765,026 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $23,797,000 after buying an additional 3,369,124 shares during the last quarter. Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 79.8% in the 2nd quarter. Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP now owns 4,634,250 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $27,157,000 after buying an additional 2,056,534 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors bought a new position in Algonquin Power & Utilities in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $9,924,000. 62.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AQN traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $5.47. 3,568,588 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,695,410. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.24 and a beta of 0.67. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a 52 week low of $4.90 and a 52 week high of $6.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $5.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.98.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.01. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a return on equity of 5.36% and a net margin of 4.70%. The business had revenue of $598.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $635.95 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.08 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.43 EPS for the current year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.065 dividend. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.75%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Algonquin Power & Utilities's dividend payout ratio is currently -53.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.50 to $5.75 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $8.50 to $6.00 in a report on Monday, August 12th. CIBC dropped their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $7.75 to $7.00 in a report on Monday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $6.33.

About Algonquin Power & Utilities

Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. operates in the power and utility industries in the United States, Canada, and other regions. The company operates in two segments, Regulated Services Group and Renewable Energy Group. The company primarily owns and operates a regulated electric, water distribution and wastewater collection, and natural gas utility systems and transmission operations.