Avangrid, Inc. (NYSE:AGR) Short Interest Down 9.7% in June

Avangrid, Inc. (NYSE:AGR) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,580,000 shares, a drop of 9.7% from the May 31st total of 1,750,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 812,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.9 days. Currently, 2.2% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Avangrid Trading Up 0.1 %

Avangrid stock traded up $0.05 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $35.34. The company had a trading volume of 59,312 shares, compared to its average volume of 868,979. Avangrid has a 1-year low of $27.46 and a 1-year high of $39.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.24. The stock has a market cap of $13.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.55.

Avangrid (NYSE:AGR) last posted its 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 net margin of 10.80% and a return on equity of 4.35%. The firm had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Avangrid will post 2.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avangrid Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were given a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.98%. Avangrid’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.19%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avangrid

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Avangrid during the 1st quarter worth $132,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Avangrid by 12.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 37,393 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,363,000 after acquiring an additional 4,240 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd lifted its position in Avangrid by 39.7% in the first quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 28,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,051,000 after acquiring an additional 8,192 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its position in Avangrid by 2.1% in the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 359,807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,111,000 after acquiring an additional 7,370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank acquired a new position in Avangrid in the first quarter valued at $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AGR. Janney Montgomery Scott restated a “sell” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of Avangrid in a report on Friday, March 8th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Avangrid in a report on Monday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.67.

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.