StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Avangrid (NYSE:AGR)

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

Avangrid Stock Performance

Shares of AGR stock opened at $35.97 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.55. Avangrid has a 12-month low of $29.71 and a 12-month high of $37.70.

Avangrid (NYSE:AGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. Avangrid had a return on equity of 5.37% and a net margin of 12.89%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Avangrid will post 2.34 EPS for the current year.

Avangrid Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Avangrid’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.48%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in Avangrid by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 29,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,057,000 after purchasing an additional 2,603 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Avangrid during the first quarter worth about $335,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Avangrid in the first quarter worth about $26,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Avangrid by 28.0% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,170 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $371,000 after acquiring an additional 2,224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Avangrid during the 1st quarter valued at about $4,504,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

About Avangrid

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.