Hsbc Holdings PLC Purchases 50,285 Shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN)

Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN - Free Report) by 12.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 458,885 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 50,285 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned approximately 0.06% of Algonquin Power & Utilities worth $2,039,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AQN. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. increased its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 50,251 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 3,096 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 935,130 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,141,000 after acquiring an additional 3,656 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 40.5% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 17,555 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 5,060 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 42,383 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $189,000 after acquiring an additional 6,602 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 221,307 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $982,000 after acquiring an additional 8,620 shares in the last quarter. 62.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. CIBC lowered their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.50 to $5.25 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.25 to $5.50 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $5.50 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, National Bankshares decreased their price target on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.75 to $6.25 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. 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 MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $5.92.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Trading Up 2.5 %

NYSE AQN traded up $0.13 on Friday, reaching $5.40. The company had a trading volume of 12,846,655 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,560,534. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $4.19 and a fifty-two week high of $6.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market cap of $4.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.19 and a beta of 0.67. The business has a 50 day moving average of $5.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4.80.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.06 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $644.73 million. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a negative net margin of 39.12% and a positive return on equity of 5.22%. Analysts forecast that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.065 per share. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.81%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Algonquin Power & Utilities's dividend payout ratio is currently -14.44%.

About Algonquin Power & Utilities

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.