Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 18,570,000 shares, a growth of 21.6% from the December 15th total of 15,270,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 5,520,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days. Approximately 2.4% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Trading Down 0.1 %

AQN traded down $0.01 during trading on Friday, hitting $4.41. 6,926,263 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,684,451. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $4.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.17. Algonquin Power & Utilities 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. The firm has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.41 and a beta of 0.69.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.01). Algonquin Power & Utilities had a negative net margin of 39.12% and a positive return on equity of 5.22%. The company had revenue of $573.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $620.46 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Algonquin Power & Utilities will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.065 dividend. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.90%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is presently -20.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AQN. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $6.00 price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research note on Friday, October 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $7.00 price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. CIBC lowered their price target on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.75 to $5.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $5.50 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.75 to $5.25 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $6.13.

Institutional Trading of Algonquin Power & Utilities

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 10.4% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,433,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,843,000 after purchasing an additional 135,400 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 7,720,474 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,105,000 after buying an additional 447,246 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its position in Algonquin Power & Utilities by 156.0% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 8,905,059 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $52,341,000 after buying an additional 5,426,523 shares during the last quarter. Troluce Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 33.3% during the second quarter. Troluce Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,575,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,090,000 after acquiring an additional 643,352 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities during the third quarter worth about $7,173,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.28% of the company’s stock.

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.