Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. reduced its position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) by 58.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 39,652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 54,670 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities were worth $251,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AQN. Pacifica Partners Inc. raised its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 1,975.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 4,150 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 3,950 shares during the period. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd purchased a new stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities in the third quarter worth about $28,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in the fourth quarter worth about $64,000. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities during the 3rd quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $70,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on AQN. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $7.50 to $6.50 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Desjardins raised shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $4.75 to $5.75 in a report on Monday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised Algonquin Power & Utilities from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $7.00 to $7.50 in a report on Monday, January 8th. National Bankshares dropped their price objective on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $7.50 to $7.25 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Algonquin Power & Utilities to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $7.67.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Performance

NYSE AQN opened at $6.16 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.24 billion, a PE ratio of 205.00 and a beta of 0.66. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a 1-year low of $4.90 and a 1-year high of $9.14. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.50.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a net margin of 1.06% and a return on equity of 5.64%. The business had revenue of $666.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $661.73 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.22 earnings per share. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s quarterly revenue was down 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a $0.1085 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.43 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.05%. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 1,433.33%.

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.