JPMorgan Chase & Co. Lowers Holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN - Free Report) by 25.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 216,644 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 72,915 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities were worth $964,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AQN. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. boosted its position 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 valued at $223,000 after buying an additional 3,096 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased 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 valued at $4,141,000 after purchasing an additional 3,656 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 42,383 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $189,000 after purchasing an additional 6,602 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 221,307 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $982,000 after acquiring an additional 8,620 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,441,700 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,396,000 after purchasing an additional 8,700 shares in the last quarter. 62.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AQN traded up $0.11 during trading on Friday, hitting $5.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,910,073 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,561,888. The company has a 50-day moving average of $5.05 and a 200-day moving average of $4.80. 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 $4.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.17 and a beta of 0.65. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a 12 month low of $4.19 and a 12 month high of $6.79.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). Algonquin Power & Utilities had a positive return on equity of 5.22% and a negative net margin of 39.12%. The business had revenue of $584.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $644.73 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.065 per share. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.84%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Algonquin Power & Utilities's payout ratio is -14.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AQN. CIBC reduced their price objective on 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 increased their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.25 to $5.50 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $5.50 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Algonquin Power & Utilities presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $5.92.

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.