Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Invests $954,000 in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN)

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 215,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $954,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AQN. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. lifted its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 50,251 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 3,096 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $4,141,000 after purchasing an additional 3,656 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 40.5% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 17,555 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 5,060 shares in the last quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 59.6% in the 4th quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC now owns 17,060 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 6,370 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 18.5% in 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 currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AQN. Wall Street Zen cut Algonquin Power & Utilities from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $6.00 price objective (up from $5.00) on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a report on Monday, May 12th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. National Bankshares cut their price objective on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.75 to $6.25 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $6.03.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Price Performance

AQN remained flat at $5.48 during midday trading on Friday. The company's stock had a trading volume of 14,392,072 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,202,980. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $5.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.89. The company has a market cap of $4.21 billion, a PE ratio of -4.25 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $4.19 and a fifty-two week high of $6.37.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $692.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $699.08 million. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a positive return on equity of 5.22% and a negative net margin of 39.12%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.14 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.065 per share. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Algonquin Power & Utilities's payout ratio is -15.48%.

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.