Jane Street Group LLC Buys 858,022 Shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN)

Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) by 321.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,124,923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 858,022 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC’s holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities were worth $6,147,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AQN. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 6.0% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 20,882,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $115,175,000 after buying an additional 1,190,236 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 45.5% during the 3rd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 12,959,770 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,806,000 after buying an additional 4,054,711 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 10,565,940 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $61,759,000 after acquiring an additional 342,528 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 7,720,474 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,105,000 after acquiring an additional 447,246 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 31.2% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,956,389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,989,000 after acquiring an additional 1,415,889 shares during the last quarter. 62.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on AQN. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price 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. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on Algonquin Power & Utilities in a report on Thursday, September 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $6.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $6.00 price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a report on Friday, October 11th. CIBC reduced their price objective 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $7.00 target price on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.25.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE AQN opened at $4.47 on Monday. 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 52 week low of $4.42 and a 52 week high of $6.79. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $4.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.43. The company has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.47 and a beta of 0.68.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last released 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $620.46 million. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a negative net margin of 39.12% and a positive return on equity of 5.22%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.11 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.065 dividend. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.82%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -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.