D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Increases Stock Position in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN - Free Report) by 5,441.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 991,843 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 973,943 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned 0.13% of Algonquin Power & Utilities worth $4,407,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 3,096 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 935,130 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,141,000 after acquiring an additional 3,656 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 40.5% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 59.6% during the 4th quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC now owns 17,060 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 6,370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 42,383 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $189,000 after purchasing an additional 6,602 shares in the last quarter. 62.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AQN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank raised their target price on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. StockNews.com cut Algonquin Power & Utilities from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $6.00 target price (up previously from $5.00) on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research note on Monday, May 12th. CIBC dropped their price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.50 to $5.25 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, National Bankshares cut their price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.75 to $6.25 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $6.03.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Performance

AQN stock traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $5.50. The company had a trading volume of 15,291,253 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,967,528. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a 12 month low of $4.19 and a 12 month high of $6.75. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $5.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.85. The firm has a market cap of $4.22 billion, a PE ratio of -4.26 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.05. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a negative net margin of 39.12% and a positive return on equity of 5.22%. The company had revenue of $692.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $699.08 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.14 EPS. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.73%. Algonquin Power & Utilities's payout ratio is -15.48%.

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.