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

Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 7th,Zacks Dividends reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.065 per share by the utilities provider on Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.42%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st.

Algonquin Power & Utilities has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 10.7% annually over the last three years. Algonquin Power & Utilities has a payout ratio of 76.5% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings fall. Analysts expect Algonquin Power & Utilities to earn $0.34 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 76.5%.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Stock Performance

NYSE AQN traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $4.80. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 569,765 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,623,269. Algonquin Power & Utilities has a 52 week low of $4.67 and a 52 week high of $6.79. The stock has a market cap of $3.68 billion, a PE ratio of 30.06 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.75.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08. Algonquin Power & Utilities had a return on equity of 5.36% and a net margin of 4.70%. The company had revenue of $573.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $620.46 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.11 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Algonquin Power & Utilities will post 0.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AQN. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on Algonquin Power & Utilities in a report on Thursday, September 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $6.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $6.00 price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research report on Friday, October 11th. CIBC reduced their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.75 to $5.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Raymond James downgraded shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $7.75 to $7.00 in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $5.50 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Algonquin Power & Utilities presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.18.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Company Profile

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.