Van ECK Associates Corp Takes Position in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN)

Van ECK Associates Corp bought a new position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 212,687 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,058,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,248,892 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $165,893,000 after purchasing an additional 262,333 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 10,565,940 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $61,759,000 after acquiring an additional 342,528 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 156.0% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 8,905,059 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $52,341,000 after acquiring an additional 5,426,523 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 320.6% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 7,273,228 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $42,633,000 after acquiring an additional 5,544,063 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 31.2% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,956,389 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $34,989,000 after purchasing an additional 1,415,889 shares during the last quarter. 62.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AQN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Raymond James downgraded Algonquin Power & Utilities from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $7.75 to $7.00 in a report on Monday, August 12th. CIBC dropped their price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.75 to $5.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.75 to $5.25 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $5.50 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, National Bank Financial raised Algonquin Power & Utilities from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $6.18.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Price Performance

NYSE:AQN traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $4.82. 1,610,578 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,623,469. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.97. The company has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a PE ratio of -3.81 and a beta of 0.68. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $5.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.73. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a 1 year low of $4.67 and a 1 year high of $6.79.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $573.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $620.46 million. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a positive return on equity of 5.11% and a negative net margin of 39.12%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.41 EPS for the current year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.065 per share. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Algonquin Power & Utilities's payout ratio is currently -20.15%.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Company Profile

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.