Van ECK Associates Corp Reduces Position in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN)

Van ECK Associates Corp reduced its holding in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp stock. (NYSE:AQN – Get Rating) up 30.2% in the third quarter, reports Holdings Channel.com. The company owned 6,198 shares of the utility after selling 2,684 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s interests in Algonquin Power & Utilities were valued at $68,000 at the time of the most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also increased or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. added 2.9% to its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 315,518 shares of the utility company’s stock valued at $3,442,000 after purchasing an additional 9,031 shares last quarter. Verity & Verity LLC increased its stake in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 2.6% in the second quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 436,402 shares of the utility company’s stock valued at $5,861,000 after purchasing an additional 11,149 shares last quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP acquired a new interest in Algonquin Power & Utilities valued at approximately $348,000 during the third quarter. Vontobel Holding AG increased its holdings in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 20.2% in the second quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 292,758 shares of the utility company’s stock valued at $3,950,000 after purchasing an additional 49,220 shares last quarter. Finally, the Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holding in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 34.2% in the second quarter. The Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 13,548,918 shares of the utility worth $182,094,000 after purchasing an additional 3,449,550 shares last quarter. 41.26% of the shares are owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Algonquin Power & Utilities shares up 2.7%

AQN stock opened at $7.18 on Friday. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has a 1-year low of $6.41 and a 1-year high of $16.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The company’s 50-day moving average is $7.16 and its 200-day moving average is $10.76. The stock has a market cap of $4.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 119.67, a price-to-earnings-to-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.47.

Want more great investment ideas? Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 11th. The utility reported earnings per share of $0.11 for the quarter, missing analyst consensus estimates of $0.16 to ($0.05). Algonquin Power & Utilities had a net margin of 1.45% and a return on equity of 6.65%. The company had revenue of $666.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $614.83 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. will publish 0.67 EPS for the current financial year. Algonquin Power & Utilities increases dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 30 received a dividend of $0.181 per share. This is an increase from Algonquin Power & Utilities’ prior quarterly dividend of $0.18. That equates to an annual dividend of $0.72 and a yield of 10.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday December 29th. Algonquin Power & Utilities’ Dividend Payout Ratio (DPR) is currently 1,200.00%.

Changes in analyst ratings

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Credit Suisse Group lowered its target price on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from USD 11.00 to USD 10.50 and gave the stock a “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January. TheStreet has downgraded shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from a “c” rating to a “d+” rating in a report dated Friday, November 18th. National Bank Financial downgraded shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a report Monday, November 14th. National Bankshares lowered its target price on Algonquin Power & Utilities shares to $12.50 from $13.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, November. Finally, the Royal Bank of Canada lowered its target price on Algonquin Power & Utilities shares to $8.00 from $12.00 and gave the stock a “Sector Perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five with a hold rating and three with a buy rating. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $10.22.

About Algonquin Power & Utilities

(received rating)

Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. is a diversified utility company. The Company is engaged in owning and operating a portfolio of regulated and unregulated generation, distribution and transmission assets. It operates through the following segments: Regulated Services Group and Renewable Energy Group.