Cetera Investment Advisers Sells 6,333 Shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN)

Cetera Investment Advisers decreased its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 128,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,333 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities were worth $571,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 59.6% in the fourth quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC now owns 17,060 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 6,370 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 257,472 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,146,000 after acquiring an additional 33,139 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 8,140,676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,217,000 after acquiring an additional 420,202 shares during the period. Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Algonquin Power & Utilities in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,638,000. Finally, Nebula Research & Development LLC raised its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 157.0% in the fourth quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC now owns 161,576 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $719,000 after acquiring an additional 98,702 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on AQN shares. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. National Bankshares decreased their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.75 to $6.25 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $6.00 price objective (up from $5.00) on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, CIBC decreased their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.50 to $5.25 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Algonquin Power & Utilities has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $6.03.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Performance

AQN opened at $5.57 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.31 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a fifty day moving average of $5.28 and a 200 day moving average of $4.87. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $4.19 and a fifty-two week high of $6.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $692.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $699.08 million. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a negative net margin of 39.12% and a positive return on equity of 5.22%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.14 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.065 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.67%. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s payout ratio is -15.48%.

About Algonquin Power & Utilities

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.