Raymond James Trust N.A. Increases Holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN)

Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) by 33.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,343 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,343 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities were worth $73,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AQN. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $12,095,000 after buying an additional 206,490 shares in the last quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 225.0% in the 3rd quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 238,229 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,298,000 after purchasing an additional 164,929 shares in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC bought a new position in Algonquin Power & Utilities in the 3rd quarter valued at $7,173,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 163,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $890,000 after purchasing an additional 20,731 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,433,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,843,000 after purchasing an additional 135,400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AQN shares. Raymond James lowered Algonquin Power & Utilities from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $7.75 to $7.00 in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Desjardins decreased their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.50 to $5.25 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $5.50 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. CIBC decreased 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 report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, National Bank Financial raised shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.18.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:AQN opened at $4.88 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.74 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.78 and a beta of 0.68. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $5.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.59. 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 12-month low of $4.67 and a 12-month high of $6.79.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.01). Algonquin Power & Utilities had a positive return on equity of 5.22% and a negative net margin of 39.12%. The company had revenue of $573.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $620.46 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.065 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.33%. 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.