Avangrid, Inc. (NYSE:AGR) Short Interest Up 6.6% in February

Avangrid, Inc. (NYSE:AGR – Get Rating) was the target of a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 4,700,000 shares, a growth of 6.6% from the February 13th total of 4,410,000 shares. Approximately 6.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 597,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.9 days.

Avangrid Price Performance

NYSE AGR opened at $39.55 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $15.29 billion, a PE ratio of 17.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.40. Avangrid has a 52 week low of $37.64 and a 52 week high of $51.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.47.

Avangrid (NYSE:AGR – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 22nd. The utilities provider reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.39. The business had revenue of $2.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. Avangrid had a net margin of 11.12% and a return on equity of 4.45%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.44 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Avangrid will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Avangrid Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 1st will be issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 28th. Avangrid’s payout ratio is 77.19%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avangrid

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Gladius Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Avangrid in the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Huntington National Bank bought a new position in shares of Avangrid in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of Avangrid in the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Wahed Invest LLC bought a new position in shares of Avangrid in the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Avangrid in the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. 11.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AGR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Avangrid in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Avangrid from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Avangrid from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.00.

About Avangrid

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Avangrid, Inc engages in the energy transmission and gas distribution. It operates through the following segments: Networks, Renewables, and Other. The Networks segment includes energy transmission and distribution, electric transmission, and gas distribution activities. The Renewables segment relates to renewable energy, mainly wind energy generation and trading related to such activities.