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

Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (NYSE:AQN) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, March 7th, NASDAQ Dividends reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid 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 dividend yield of 5.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st.

Algonquin Power & Utilities has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 19.6% annually over the last three years. Algonquin Power & Utilities has a payout ratio of 72.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 Down 0.1 %

Algonquin Power & Utilities stock traded down $0.01 during trading on Friday, reaching $4.79. The stock had a trading volume of 30,474,718 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,075,853. 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 52-week low of $4.19 and a 52-week high of $6.79. The stock has a market cap of $3.67 billion, a PE ratio of -3.71 and a beta of 0.69. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $4.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.87.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE:AQN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, March 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by ($0.04). Algonquin Power & Utilities had a positive return on equity of 5.22% and a negative net margin of 39.12%. On average, analysts predict that Algonquin Power & Utilities will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AQN. National Bankshares cut their target price on Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.75 to $6.25 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $6.00 to $5.50 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities from $5.25 to $5.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $7.00 price target on shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.00.

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.