Short Interest in Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) Grows By 14.5%

Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 19,380,000 shares, an increase of 14.5% from the October 15th total of 16,920,000 shares. Approximately 2.5% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 6,070,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Algonquin Power & Utilities

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 156.0% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 8,905,059 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,341,000 after buying an additional 5,426,523 shares during the period. Troluce Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 33.3% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,248,892 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $165,893,000 after acquiring an additional 262,333 shares during the period. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,164,000. Finally, Private Management Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $12,361,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.28% of the company’s stock.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Performance

NYSE:AQN opened at $4.82 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a PE ratio of -3.74 and a beta of 0.68. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $5.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Algonquin Power & Utilities has a 12 month low of $4.67 and a 12 month high of $6.79.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $573.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $620.46 million. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a positive return on equity of 5.22% and a negative net margin of 39.12%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.11 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Algonquin Power & Utilities will post 0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.065 per share. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Algonquin Power & Utilities’s payout ratio is -20.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on AQN shares. Raymond James lowered Algonquin Power & Utilities from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $7.75 to $7.00 in a research report on Monday, August 12th. National Bank Financial raised Algonquin Power & Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $6.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $6.00 price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, CIBC dropped their price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.75 to $5.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Algonquin Power & Utilities currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.18.

About Algonquin Power & Utilities

Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. operates in the power and utility industries in the United States, Canada, and other regions. The company operates in two segments, Regulated Services Group and Renewable Energy Group. The company primarily owns and operates a regulated electric, water distribution and wastewater collection, and natural gas utility systems and transmission operations.