Strength Seen in Avangrid (AGR): Can Its 13.0% Jump Turn into More Strength?
Avangrid (AGR) shares ended the last trading session 13% higher at $36.24. The jump came on an impressive volume with a higher-than-average number of shares changing hands in the session. This compares to the stock's 5.5% gain over the past four weeks.
The Spanish utility Iberdrola SA made a non-binding cash offer for $34.25 per share for Avangrid to acquire to buy all the shares it doesn’t already own in its subsidiary Avangrid. The offer implies a 10% premium over Avangrid’s average price for the past 30 days. Iberdrola already owns more than 80% shares of Avangrid.
Avangrid continues to expand its renewable power generation in the United States. The company is developing its first large-scale solar project and advancing construction of nearly 1.4 gigawatts. The renewable construction includes 806 megawatts (MWs) of offshore wind, 408 MWs of solar and 106 MWs of onshore wind projects.
This diversified energy and utility company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.70 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +9.4%. Revenues are expected to be $2.52 billion, up 2.4% from the year-ago quarter.
Earnings and revenue growth expectations certainly give a good sense of the potential strength in a stock, but empirical research shows that trends in earnings estimate revisions are strongly correlated with near-term stock price movements.
For Avangrid, the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. And a stock's price usually doesn't keep moving higher in the absence of any trend in earnings estimate revisions. So, make sure to keep an eye on AGR going forward to see if this recent jump can turn into more strength down the road.
The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>
Avangrid belongs to the Zacks Utility - Electric Power industry. Another stock from the same industry, CMS Energy (CMS), closed the last trading session 0.4% lower at $60.08. Over the past month, CMS has returned 6.9%.
For CMS Energy , the consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has changed -11.6% over the past month to $1.06. This represents a change of +51.4% from what the company reported a year ago. CMS Energy currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Avangrid, Inc. (AGR) : Free Stock Analysis Report
CMS Energy Corporation (CMS) : Free Stock Analysis Report
