Sale will let Algonquin cut its debt

Article Excerpt

ALGONQUIN POWER & UTILITIES CORP. $8.57 is a buy for long-term gains. The company (Toronto symbol AQN; High-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares o/s: 689.6 million; Market cap: $5.4 billion; Dividend yield: 6.9%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Average; www.algonquinpower.com) cut your quarterly dividend by 40.0% with the April 2023 payment, to $0.1085 U.S. from $0.1808 U.S. The new annual rate of $0.434 U.S. yields 6.9%. The dividend cut was to conserve cash for the now-cancelled purchase of Kentucky Power Co. Instead, Algonquin will now sell its renewable power operations and become a pure-play regulated utility. As part of that plan, it will tender its 42.2% stake in Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure plc (Nasdaq symbol AY) to an investor group that has agreed to buy that firm. It will use the proceeds of $1.08 billion U.S. to pay down its long-term debt of $9.09 billion U.S. (as of March 31, 2024), which is 2.3 times its market cap. Algonquin Power is a buy. buy…