Aviva PLC Raises Stock Holdings in Avangrid, Inc. (NYSE:AGR)

Aviva PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avangrid, Inc. (NYSE:AGR – Get Rating) by 16.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,390 shares during the quarter. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Avangrid were worth $413,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AGR. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Avangrid by 506.6% during the third quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 625,284 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,075,000 after purchasing an additional 522,200 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Avangrid by 9,303.6% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 527,167 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,313,000 after acquiring an additional 521,561 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Avangrid by 1,260.7% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 347,496 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,894,000 after acquiring an additional 321,958 shares during the last quarter. PATRIZIA Pty Ltd bought a new position in Avangrid during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,139,000. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in Avangrid by 16.6% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,799,203 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $83,661,000 after acquiring an additional 255,851 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on AGR shares. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Avangrid from $43.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Avangrid from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 23rd. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Avangrid from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Avangrid in a research report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.83.

Avangrid Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Avangrid stock opened at $38.55 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.69. Avangrid, Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.44 and a 52-week high of $51.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.42. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $39.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.13.

Avangrid (NYSE:AGR – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.12). Avangrid had a return on equity of 3.43% and a net margin of 8.25%. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.16 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Avangrid, Inc. will post 2.23 EPS for the current year.

Avangrid Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 1st will be paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 31st. Avangrid’s payout ratio is 100.00%.

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.