The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Increases Position in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN - Free Report) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,140,676 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 420,202 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 1.06% of Algonquin Power & Utilities worth $36,217,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FIL Ltd boosted its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 85.6% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 40,886,793 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $181,473,000 after acquiring an additional 18,857,515 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in the 4th quarter worth $31,508,000. Private Management Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 161.2% in the 4th quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 5,924,983 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $26,366,000 after purchasing an additional 3,656,840 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 85.5% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,730,749 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $16,539,000 after buying an additional 1,719,928 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 83.2% during the 4th quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 2,858,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $12,718,000 after buying an additional 1,298,030 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.28% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on AQN shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $5.50 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. 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 note on Thursday, April 24th. Scotiabank upped their target price on 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. Finally, National Bankshares lowered 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 assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $5.92.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Performance

AQN traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $5.39. 9,426,056 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,567,996. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $5.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.17 and a beta of 0.67. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a 1-year low of $4.19 and a 1-year high of $6.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, March 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.06 EPS 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 company had revenue of $584.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $644.73 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.065 dividend. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.83%. 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.