Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Grows Stock Position in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) by 12.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,782,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 654,006 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.75% of Algonquin Power & Utilities worth $25,734,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AQN. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. boosted its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 50,251 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $223,000 after buying an additional 3,096 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 935,130 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,141,000 after acquiring an additional 3,656 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 40.5% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 17,555 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 5,060 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 42,383 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $189,000 after purchasing an additional 6,602 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 221,307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $982,000 after purchasing an additional 8,620 shares in the last quarter. 62.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. CIBC decreased their price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.50 to $5.25 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $5.50 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.25 to $5.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, National Bankshares decreased their price target on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.75 to $6.25 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Algonquin Power & Utilities has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $5.92.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities stock opened at $5.50 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.26 and a beta of 0.67. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a twelve month low of $4.19 and a twelve month high of $6.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $5.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4.80.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, March 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.10 by ($0.04). Algonquin Power & Utilities had a positive return on equity of 5.22% and a negative net margin of 39.12%. The company had revenue of $584.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $644.73 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.065 per share. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s payout ratio is -14.44%.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Company Profile

Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. is an investment holding company, which engages in energy generation and water distribution facilities. It operates through the Regulated Services Group and Renewable Energy Group segments. The Regulated Services Group segment owns and operates a portfolio of electric, natural gas, water distribution, and wastewater collection utility systems and transmission.