Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) Declares $0.07 Quarterly Dividend

Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, March 7th, NASDAQ Dividends reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of 0.065 per share by the utilities provider on Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.00%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st.

Algonquin Power & Utilities has a dividend payout ratio of 74.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Algonquin Power & Utilities to earn $0.31 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.26 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 83.9%.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Up 0.5 %

AQN stock opened at $5.20 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.99 billion, a PE ratio of -4.03 and a beta of 0.71. 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 has a twelve month low of $4.19 and a twelve month high of $6.79. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $4.78 and its 200-day moving average is $4.84.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 negative net margin of 39.12% and a positive return on equity of 5.22%. The company had revenue of $584.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $644.73 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Algonquin Power & Utilities will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. 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 note on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $7.00 price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a report on Thursday, December 12th. National Bankshares reduced their price objective on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.75 to $6.25 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $5.50 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $5.94.

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.