Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) Short Interest Down 9.9% in September

Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 13,910,000 shares, a decline of 9.9% from the August 31st total of 15,440,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 6,420,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days. Approximately 1.8% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Algonquin Power & Utilities

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,882 shares during the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities during the second quarter worth $61,000. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities during the second quarter worth $66,000. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in the 1st quarter valued at $76,000. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities during the 1st quarter valued at $82,000. 62.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AQN shares. Raymond James cut Algonquin Power & Utilities from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $7.75 to $7.00 in a research note on Monday, August 12th. CIBC dropped their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.50 to $5.75 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Desjardins lowered their price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.50 to $5.25 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.33.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Price Performance

Shares of AQN traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $5.53. 6,195,684 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,692,669. The company has a market cap of $4.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.29 and a beta of 0.67. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $5.58 and its 200 day moving average is $5.95. Algonquin Power & Utilities has a fifty-two week low of $4.90 and a fifty-two week high of $6.79. 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 (NYSE:AQN) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.01. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a net margin of 4.70% and a return on equity of 5.36%. The firm had revenue of $598.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $635.95 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.08 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Algonquin Power & Utilities will post 0.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.065 per share. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.70%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s payout ratio is presently -53.06%.

About Algonquin Power & Utilities

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.