August hasn't been a great month so far for the AGL (ASX:AGL) share price

What's going on with AGL shares this month?

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The AGL Energy Limited (ASX: AGL) share price hasn't exactly established a good reputation as an ASX 200 performer in 2021 so far.

Even before this month when AGL reported its FY21 earnings, AGL shares had lost around 49.7% of their value between January and the end of July.

AGL reported its FY21 earnings more than a fortnight ago on 12 August. Here's a summary of what my Fool colleague Marc reported at the time:

  • Revenues dropped 10% on the prior corresponding period (pcp) to $10.9 billion.
  • Underlying profits down 33.5% to $537 million on the pcp.
  • Underlying earnings per share (EPS) fell 31.6% to 86.2 cents.
  • Full-year dividend of 75 cents per share (41 cents interim + 35 cents final), a 23.5% drop from the pcp

This earnings report has been the centrepiece of AGL's August performance so far. To illustrate, here's a graph of the AGL share price over the month to date:

AGL share price
Source: fool.com.au

As you can see, AGL was having a relatively positive month until the release of its FY21 earnings. In fact, between 30 July and 11 August, AGL shares were up around 5%.

However, since 12 August, investors seemed to have changed their minds. On yesterday's closing share price of $6.71 a share, AGL is now down around 11.7% since the day before the earnings were released.

That puts this company's losses for the month of August so far at roughly 7.2%.

About the AGL Energy share price

While AGL's performance in both August and 2021 so far has been rather bleak, things aren't any better for long-term investors.

In addition to being down 44% year to date in 2021 so far, the AGL share price is also down around 54% over the past 12 months, and 64% over the past 5 years.

Since this company hit its all-time high of around $27.70 a share back in 2017, investors have had to watch AGL shares lose a nasty 75.8% of their value.

In some (perhaps much-needed) better news, investment bank Goldman Sachs still rates AGL with a 12-month share price target of $7.95 a share (albeit with a 'neutral' rating). That implies a potential 12-month upside of 18.5%. Even though the broker acknowledges that FY2022 will be a tough year for the company, it still sees "long-term embedded value in AGL's portfolio".

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia's parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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