Avangrid, Inc. (NYSE:AGR) Short Interest Up 12.8% in September

Avangrid, Inc. (NYSE:AGR) was the target of a large growth in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,500,000 shares, a growth of 12.8% from the September 15th total of 1,330,000 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 626,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Avangrid Price Performance

NYSE AGR opened at $35.77 on Thursday. Avangrid has a 1 year low of $28.75 and a 1 year high of $37.70. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market cap of $13.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.55.

Avangrid (NYSE:AGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. Avangrid had a return on equity of 4.87% and a net margin of 11.35%. The firm’s revenue was up 21.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.21 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Avangrid will post 2.24 EPS for the current year.

Avangrid Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.92%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Avangrid’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.19%.

Institutional Trading of Avangrid

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AGR. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its position in shares of Avangrid by 2.1% during 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 buying an additional 7,370 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Avangrid by 34.7% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 308,134 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,948,000 after acquiring an additional 79,463 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Avangrid by 26.1% in the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 297,474 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,569,000 after acquiring an additional 61,574 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Avangrid by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 262,918 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,581,000 after purchasing an additional 32,223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Avangrid by 26.9% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 256,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,130,000 after purchasing an additional 54,469 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Avangrid in a report on Sunday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company.

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.