Gabelli Funds LLC Reduces Position in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. $AQN

Key Points

• Gabelli Funds LLC reduced its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. by 7.4%, selling 111,750 shares, now holding 1,405,500 shares valued at approximately $7.22 million.
• Aliogenquin Power & Utilities stock has seen varied analyst opinions, with target prices ranging from $5.00 to $6.75 and a consensus rating of "Hold" from twelve analysts.
• The company reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.04, meeting analysts' expectations, while also declaring a quarterly dividend of $0.065 per share, yielding 4.5%.

Gabelli Funds LLC lessened its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN - Free Report) by 7.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,405,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 111,750 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC owned approximately 0.18% of Algonquin Power & Utilities worth $7,224,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 32.8% during the fourth quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 22,830,789 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $101,202,000 after buying an additional 5,640,705 shares during the last quarter. Packer & Co Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities during the 1st quarter valued at $23,197,000. Starboard Value LP boosted its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Starboard Value LP now owns 65,316,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $290,656,000 after acquiring an additional 3,175,000 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 2,961.1% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,718,300 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $12,096,000 after buying an additional 2,629,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities during the first quarter valued at approximately $13,293,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.28% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AQN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. CIBC raised their price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.75 to $6.25 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. National Bank Financial raised shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 8th. Finally, Desjardins upped their target price on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $4.75 to $6.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $6.31.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Performance

AQN stock traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $5.67. 2,737,116 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,169,459. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a 1-year low of $4.19 and a 1-year high of $6.24. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $5.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.48. The firm has a market cap of $4.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.15 and a beta of 0.69.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.04. The company had revenue of $535.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $535.64 million. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a positive return on equity of 4.76% and a negative net margin of 57.66%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.09 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.065 per share. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 29th. Algonquin Power & Utilities's dividend payout ratio is -14.44%.

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.