Central Pacific Bank Trust Division Makes New Investment in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN)

Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 10,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $54,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AQN. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 754.0% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,552,484 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $98,292,000 after purchasing an additional 13,731,305 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 320.6% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 7,273,228 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,633,000 after purchasing an additional 5,544,063 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 5,426,523 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 851.0% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 3,765,026 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $23,797,000 after buying an additional 3,369,124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 79.8% during the 2nd quarter. Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP now owns 4,634,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,157,000 after buying an additional 2,056,534 shares in the last quarter. 62.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Price Performance

NYSE:AQN traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $5.25. The stock had a trading volume of 4,629,809 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,657,704. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.97. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a 52 week low of $4.90 and a 52 week high of $6.79. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $5.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a PE ratio of -10.72 and a beta of 0.66.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.01. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a return on equity of 5.36% and a net margin of 4.70%. The business had revenue of $598.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $635.95 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.08 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.065 dividend. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s payout ratio is -53.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AQN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. CIBC lowered their price objective on 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. Desjardins lowered their price objective on 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. Raymond James cut Algonquin Power & Utilities from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $7.75 to $7.00 in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $6.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Algonquin Power & Utilities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $8.50 to $6.00 in a research note on Monday, August 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.33.

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.