Trexquant Investment LP Lowers Stock Holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN)

Trexquant Investment LP trimmed its position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN - Free Report) by 19.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 380,655 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 89,965 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP's holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities were worth $1,694,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AQN. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,510,928 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $139,845,000 after acquiring an additional 544,198 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities during the fourth quarter worth 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 in the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 5,052,789 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $22,458,000 after purchasing an additional 402,500 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $16,539,000 after purchasing an additional 1,719,928 shares in the last quarter. 62.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Remove Ads

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank raised their price target 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. National Bankshares decreased their target price on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.75 to $6.25 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $5.50 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $5.94.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Down 0.3 %

AQN traded down $0.02 on Tuesday, reaching $5.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,708,699 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,264,762. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $4.19 and a fifty-two week high of $6.79. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $4.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4.79. The company has a market capitalization of $3.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.02 and a beta of 0.65.

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 company had revenue of $584.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $644.73 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.065 dividend. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.01%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Algonquin Power & Utilities's payout ratio is currently -14.44%.

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.