Short Interest in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) Drops By 9.9%

Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 13,910,000 shares, a decline of 9.9% from the August 31st total of 15,440,000 shares. Approximately 1.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 6,420,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AQN shares. Desjardins lowered their target price on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.50 to $5.25 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $8.50 to $6.00 in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.50 to $5.75 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. CIBC reduced their price objective on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $6.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AQN. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,248,892 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $165,893,000 after purchasing an additional 262,333 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 754.0% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,552,484 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $98,292,000 after purchasing an additional 13,731,305 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 3.4% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 10,565,940 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $61,759,000 after purchasing an additional 342,528 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 156.0% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 8,905,059 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,341,000 after purchasing an additional 5,426,523 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 320.6% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 7,273,228 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,633,000 after purchasing an additional 5,544,063 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.28% of the company’s stock.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE AQN traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $5.53. 6,195,684 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,692,669. Algonquin Power & Utilities has a 12 month low of $4.90 and a 12 month high of $6.79. The company has a market capitalization of $4.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.29 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.95.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.01. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a return on equity of 5.36% and a net margin of 4.70%. The firm had revenue of $598.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $635.95 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Algonquin Power & Utilities will post 0.43 EPS for the current year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.065 dividend. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.70%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s payout ratio is currently -53.06%.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Company Profile

Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. operates in the power and utility industries in the United States, Canada, and other regions. The company operates in two segments, Regulated Services Group and Renewable Energy Group. The company primarily owns and operates a regulated electric, water distribution and wastewater collection, and natural gas utility systems and transmission operations.