Ariel Investments LLC Has $75.14 Million Stock Position in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. $AQN

Ariel Investments LLC grew its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) by 88.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,112,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,160,490 shares during the period. Ariel Investments LLC owned approximately 1.71% of Algonquin Power & Utilities worth $75,137,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 21.9% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 156,975 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $806,000 after buying an additional 28,175 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 113,745 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $585,000 after acquiring an additional 8,339 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 85.7% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,887 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 2,256 shares during the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in the first quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,715,401 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $162,859,000 after purchasing an additional 204,473 shares in the last quarter. 62.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Performance

NYSE AQN opened at $5.78 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.44 billion, a PE ratio of -144.34 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 has a 50-day moving average of $5.89 and a 200-day moving average of $5.80. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a 52-week low of $4.19 and a 52-week 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $600.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.08 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.065 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -650.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Janney Montgomery Scott set a $7.00 price objective on Algonquin Power & Utilities in a report on Monday, November 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a report on Monday. Finally, Desjardins increased their price target on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.25 to $6.75 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Two research 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, the stock 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.