Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) Shares Acquired by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 644,652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 60,946 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities were worth $3,264,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AQN. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 20,882,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $115,175,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190,236 shares during the period. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 5.1% during the third quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 17,190,084 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $93,918,000 after buying an additional 832,739 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its stake in 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 worth $70,806,000 after buying an additional 4,054,711 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of 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 worth $61,759,000 after acquiring an additional 342,528 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 7,720,474 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,105,000 after acquiring an additional 447,246 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. CIBC decreased their price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.75 to $5.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.75 to $5.25 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $6.00 price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $6.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $7.00 target price on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.25.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Trading Up 0.2 %

AQN opened at $4.49 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.44 billion, a PE ratio of -3.48 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a 12-month low of $4.25 and a 12-month high of $6.79. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $4.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.34.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $573.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.11 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.79%. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s payout ratio is -20.16%.

Algonquin Power & Utilities 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.