Renaissance Technologies LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN)

Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN - Free Report) by 592.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,312,392 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 1,122,992 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned about 0.17% of Algonquin Power & Utilities worth $5,840,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AQN. FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 85.6% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 40,886,793 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $181,473,000 after purchasing an additional 18,857,515 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 544,198 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 21,000,723 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $93,090,000 after buying an additional 117,757 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,508,000. Finally, Private Management Group Inc. raised 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 valued at $26,366,000 after buying an additional 3,656,840 shares during the last quarter. 62.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Down 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE:AQN traded down $0.17 on Wednesday, reaching $5.23. The company had a trading volume of 8,035,575 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,424,051. 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 market capitalization of $4.01 billion, a PE ratio of -4.05 and a beta of 0.65. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a 52-week low of $4.19 and a 52-week high of $6.79. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $5.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4.79.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, March 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.06 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 firm had revenue of $584.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $644.73 million. As a group, analysts expect that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.98%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Algonquin Power & Utilities's dividend payout ratio is presently -14.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AQN has been the subject of a number of research reports. National Bankshares dropped their price target on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.75 to $6.25 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. 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 note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price 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. One research 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Algonquin Power & Utilities presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $5.94.

About Algonquin Power & Utilities

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.