Natixis Advisors LLC Invests $469,000 in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN)

Natixis Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 105,406 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $469,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 17,190,084 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $93,918,000 after purchasing an additional 832,739 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 45.5% during the third quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 12,959,770 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $70,806,000 after buying an additional 4,054,711 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 6.1% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 7,720,474 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,105,000 after buying an additional 447,246 shares during the last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 161.2% in the fourth quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 5,924,983 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,366,000 after buying an additional 3,656,840 shares during the period. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 5,052,789 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $22,458,000 after acquiring an additional 402,500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $5.50 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. National Bankshares decreased their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.75 to $6.25 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $7.00 target price on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.25 to $5.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $5.94.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Up 0.3 %

Algonquin Power & Utilities stock opened at $5.18 on Friday. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a twelve month low of $4.19 and a twelve month high of $6.79. The business has a fifty day moving average of $4.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4.84. The firm has a market cap of $3.97 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.01 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, March 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.10 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $584.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $644.73 million. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a negative net margin of 39.12% and a positive return on equity of 5.22%. On average, 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.02%. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -14.44%.

Algonquin Power & Utilities 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.