National Grid Transco (NYSE:NGG) Upgraded at Zacks Research

National Grid Transco (NYSE:NGG) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. National Bankshares set a $85.50 target price on shares of National Grid Transco in a report on Friday, December 12th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of National Grid Transco in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of National Grid Transco in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of National Grid Transco in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lowered National Grid Transco from an “outperform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, National Grid Transco presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.80.

National Grid Transco Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE NGG opened at $88.75 on Monday. National Grid Transco has a one year low of $59.35 and a one year high of $89.22. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $75.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in National Grid Transco by 47,478.9% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 892,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $69,041,000 after acquiring an additional 890,704 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of National Grid Transco by 21.5% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,596,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $342,017,000 after acquiring an additional 814,248 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of National Grid Transco in the 2nd quarter worth about $56,462,000. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in National Grid Transco by 67.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,669,191 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $121,300,000 after purchasing an additional 672,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in National Grid Transco by 29.3% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,774,746 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $132,059,000 after purchasing an additional 402,329 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 4.68% of the company’s stock.

About National Grid Transco

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.