Point72 Asset Management L.P. Buys 1,415,889 Shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN)

Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) by 31.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,956,389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,415,889 shares during the quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. owned approximately 0.78% of Algonquin Power & Utilities worth $34,989,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 76.3% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,882 shares in the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Algonquin Power & Utilities during the 2nd quarter worth $61,000. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Algonquin Power & Utilities during the 2nd quarter worth $66,000. Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Algonquin Power & Utilities during the 1st quarter worth $76,000. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Algonquin Power & Utilities during the 1st quarter worth $82,000. Institutional investors own 62.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AQN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. National Bank Financial upgraded Algonquin Power & Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Raymond James downgraded Algonquin Power & Utilities from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $7.75 to $7.00 in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Desjardins dropped their target price on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.50 to $5.25 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Algonquin Power & Utilities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $8.50 to $6.00 in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $6.00 target price on the stock. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.33.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of AQN stock opened at $5.44 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.17 billion, a PE ratio of -11.10 and a beta of 0.67. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a 52-week low of $4.90 and a 52-week high of $6.79.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $598.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $635.95 million. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a return on equity of 5.36% and a net margin of 4.70%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.08 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.43 EPS for the current year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $0.065 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.78%. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -53.06%.

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.