GAMMA Investing LLC Invests $60,000 in Avangrid, Inc. (NYSE:AGR)

GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Avangrid, Inc. (NYSE:AGR) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,987 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $60,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Avangrid by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,917,324 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $62,140,000 after buying an additional 326,084 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB purchased a new position in Avangrid in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,195,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Avangrid by 179.9% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 157,984 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,120,000 after acquiring an additional 101,543 shares in the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Avangrid by 110.5% during the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 170,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,150,000 after purchasing an additional 89,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Avangrid by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 560,803 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,919,000 after purchasing an additional 71,441 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AGR shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Avangrid from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Avangrid from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Avangrid from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott restated a “sell” rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of Avangrid in a report on Friday, March 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Avangrid presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.75.

Avangrid Price Performance

Shares of Avangrid stock opened at $36.65 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $35.19 and its 200 day moving average is $32.77. Avangrid, Inc. has a one year low of $27.46 and a one year high of $41.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market cap of $14.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.56.

Avangrid (NYSE:AGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.54 billion. Avangrid had a return on equity of 4.35% and a net margin of 10.80%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Avangrid, Inc. will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Avangrid Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be given a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.80%. Avangrid’s payout ratio is currently 76.19%.

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.