Franklin Resources Inc. Has $3.94 Million Holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. $AQN

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) by 17.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 687,680 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 100,198 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Algonquin Power & Utilities worth $3,940,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 84.9% during the first quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 42,223,594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $216,868,000 after buying an additional 19,392,805 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,715,401 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $162,859,000 after acquiring an additional 204,473 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 13,139,562 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,487,000 after acquiring an additional 88,439 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 65.0% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 12,205,756 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $62,738,000 after acquiring an additional 4,808,539 shares during the period. Finally, Southpoint Capital Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities during the 1st quarter worth approximately $51,400,000. Institutional investors own 62.28% of the company’s stock.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Down 1.2%

AQN opened at $5.99 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -149.59 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.23. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.79. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a twelve month low of $4.19 and a twelve month high of $6.48.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $600.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $596.67 million. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a negative net margin of 1.11% and a positive return on equity of 5.14%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.08 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.065 dividend. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s payout ratio is presently -650.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on AQN shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Algonquin Power & Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. Janney Montgomery Scott set a $7.00 price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research note on Monday, November 10th. TD Securities raised shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Desjardins upped their target price on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.25 to $6.75 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Algonquin Power & Utilities presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.59.

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.