Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) by 25.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,250,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 250,000 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC owned 0.16% of Algonquin Power & Utilities worth $5,562,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AQN. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 14.1% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 17,769 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 2,201 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 33.4% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 13,343 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 3,343 shares during the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 12.3% during the third quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 47,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 5,158 shares during the period. Redwood Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 1.2% during the third quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC now owns 505,299 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,794,000 after buying an additional 6,176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 72,471 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $396,000 after acquiring an additional 7,400 shares during the period. 62.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Trading Down 3.0 %

AQN opened at $4.30 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.30 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.33 and a beta of 0.69. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $4.54 and its 200-day moving average is $5.08. 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 Corp. has a 52-week low of $4.19 and a 52-week high of $6.79.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $573.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $620.46 million. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a positive return on equity of 5.22% and a negative net margin of 39.12%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.11 EPS. Analysts expect that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.065 dividend. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.05%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is currently -20.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on AQN. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $6.00 target price on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research note on Friday, October 11th. CIBC lowered their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.75 to $5.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $5.50 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $7.00 price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.75 to $5.25 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Algonquin Power & Utilities currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.13.

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.