Avangrid (NYSE:AGR) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Avangrid (NYSE:AGR) in a research report released on Sunday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Separately, Janney Montgomery Scott reaffirmed a sell rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of Avangrid in a research report on Friday, March 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $34.67.

Avangrid Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of AGR opened at $35.24 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.55. Avangrid has a 1 year low of $27.46 and a 1 year high of $39.13. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.50.

Avangrid (NYSE:AGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.18. Avangrid had a return on equity of 4.35% and a net margin of 10.80%. The company had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. Avangrid’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Avangrid will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avangrid Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 3rd. Avangrid’s payout ratio is currently 76.19%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avangrid

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in Avangrid by 3.5% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 9,791 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in Avangrid by 31.0% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,486 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. First Pacific Financial raised its stake in Avangrid by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 13,504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $438,000 after buying an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc raised its stake in Avangrid by 163.9% in the first quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 863 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harrington Investments INC raised its stake in Avangrid by 2.1% in the first quarter. Harrington Investments INC now owns 26,983 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $983,000 after buying an additional 557 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Avangrid Company Profile

Avangrid, Inc, an energy services holding company, engages in the regulated energy transmission and distribution, and renewable energy generation businesses in the United States. The company operates through Networks and Renewables segments. It is involved in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity; and distribution, transportation, and sale of natural gas.