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Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN - Free Report) closed at $7.85 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.38% move from the prior day. The stock lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.3%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.98%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 7.48%.

Coming into today, shares of the utility operator had lost 0.13% in the past month. In that same time, the Utilities sector lost 1.43%, while the S&P 500 lost 2.95%.

Algonquin Power & Utilities will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.15, down 28.57% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $794.39 million, up 7.98% from the prior-year quarter.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $0.60 per share and revenue of $2.91 billion, which would represent changes of -13.04% and +4.94%, respectively, from the prior year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Algonquin Power & Utilities should also be noted by investors. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.28% lower. Algonquin Power & Utilities is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Digging into valuation, Algonquin Power & Utilities currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 13.07. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 17.26, which means Algonquin Power & Utilities is trading at a discount to the group.

Also, we should mention that AQN has a PEG ratio of 4.31. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. Utility - Electric Power stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 2.91 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Utility - Electric Power industry is part of the Utilities sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 97, putting it in the top 39% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.


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