Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Avangrid, Inc. (NYSE:AGR)

Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc. lowered its position in shares of Avangrid, Inc. (NYSE:AGR) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 39,560 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,614 shares during the period. Avangrid comprises about 1.0% of Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Avangrid were worth $1,282,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Citigroup Inc. raised its position in Avangrid by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 9,791 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $295,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in Avangrid by 41.7% in the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. First Pacific Financial raised its position in Avangrid by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 13,504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $438,000 after buying an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co. raised its position in Avangrid by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co. now owns 16,471 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $497,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Magellan Asset Management Ltd raised its position in Avangrid by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 162,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,906,000 after buying an additional 559 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Avangrid Stock Performance

Shares of Avangrid stock traded down $0.47 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $36.55. 588,628 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 922,440. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $34.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.56. Avangrid, Inc. has a one year low of $27.46 and a one year high of $41.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Avangrid (NYSE:AGR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.54 billion. Avangrid had a return on equity of 4.37% and a net margin of 10.80%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Avangrid, Inc. will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avangrid Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.82%. Avangrid’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.19%.

Avangrid Profile

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.