First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Has $163,000 Holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lessened its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) by 42.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 25,840 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 19,024 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities were worth $163,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pursue Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in the 4th quarter worth about $165,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,962,219 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,309,000 after purchasing an additional 114,060 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. grew its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 19.0% in the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 25,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $160,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 120.9% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 48,062 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 26,307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 459,806 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,902,000 after purchasing an additional 3,443 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.28% of the company’s stock.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Performance

Algonquin Power & Utilities stock opened at $6.61 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $6.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $6.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market cap of $4.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 220.33 and a beta of 0.64. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $4.90 and a fifty-two week high of $9.14.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $666.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $661.73 million. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a net margin of 1.06% and a return on equity of 5.64%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.22 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a dividend of $0.1085 per share. This represents a $0.43 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.57%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 1,433.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AQN. StockNews.com raised shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Scotiabank lowered 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, April 22nd. Finally, Desjardins upgraded shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $4.75 to $5.75 in a research note on Monday, March 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $7.67.

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.