National Grid Transco, PLC (NYSE:NGG) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” by Analysts

National Grid Transco, PLC (NYSE:NGG) has been assigned an average rating of “Reduce” from the ten analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $85.50.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reissued a “sell” rating on shares of National Grid Transco in a report on Monday, March 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of National Grid Transco in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of National Grid Transco in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of National Grid Transco in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of National Grid Transco in a report on Wednesday, March 18th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On National Grid Transco

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NGG. Milford Funds Ltd. acquired a new stake in National Grid Transco during the 4th quarter valued at $183,208,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in National Grid Transco by 47,478.9% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 892,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $69,041,000 after purchasing an additional 890,704 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in National Grid Transco by 21.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,596,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $342,017,000 after purchasing an additional 814,248 shares in the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP acquired a new stake in National Grid Transco during the 4th quarter valued at $60,372,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in National Grid Transco by 67.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,669,191 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $121,300,000 after purchasing an additional 672,050 shares in the last quarter. 4.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

National Grid Transco Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NGG opened at $81.01 on Friday. National Grid Transco has a 1 year low of $67.51 and a 1 year high of $94.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $85.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.86.

National Grid Transco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a dividend of $2.1738 per share. This represents a yield of 533.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th.

National Grid Transco Company Profile

National Grid Transco (NYSE: NGG) is a utility company focused on the transmission and distribution of electricity and natural gas. The company builds, owns, operates and maintains large-scale energy infrastructure, including high-voltage electricity transmission lines, electricity distribution networks and high-pressure gas pipelines. Its core activities center on providing safe, reliable delivery of energy to residential, commercial and industrial customers while meeting regulatory requirements across its service territories.

Services provided by National Grid Transco encompass network operation and maintenance, system balancing and control, metering and connections, and capital investment in grid modernization and reliability projects.