Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Trims Stock Position in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc decreased its stake in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 64.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 226,867 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 404,584 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Eversource Energy were worth $13,029,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Eversource Energy by 33.0% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 40,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,306,000 after acquiring an additional 9,981 shares during the last quarter. Verity & Verity LLC acquired a new stake in Eversource Energy during the 4th quarter worth $744,000. Everett Harris & Co. CA grew its position in Eversource Energy by 125.2% during the 4th quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA now owns 8,093 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $465,000 after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Eversource Energy by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 73,096 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,198,000 after purchasing an additional 7,967 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,002,004 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,545,000 after buying an additional 28,725 shares during the last quarter. 79.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Eversource Energy from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Eversource Energy from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Eversource Energy from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Eversource Energy in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Eversource Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eversource Energy

In other news, VP Jay S. Buth sold 980 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.99, for a total transaction of $61,730.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 24,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,535,318.26. This trade represents a 3.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Frederica M. Williams sold 3,092 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total value of $192,507.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 22,671 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,411,496.46. The trade was a 12.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Eversource Energy Stock Up 0.4%

ES stock opened at $62.97 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $59.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.88. Eversource Energy has a 52 week low of $52.28 and a 52 week high of $69.01. The company has a market cap of $23.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.61.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. The business had revenue of $4.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.65 billion. Eversource Energy had a return on equity of 10.99% and a net margin of 6.82%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.49 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Eversource Energy will post 4.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eversource Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.7525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.01 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.78%. Eversource Energy’s payout ratio is 129.74%.

Eversource Energy Profile

Eversource Energy, a public utility holding company, engages in the energy delivery business. The company operates through Electric Distribution, Electric Transmission, Natural Gas Distribution, and Water Distribution segments. It is involved in the transmission and distribution of electricity; solar power facilities; and distribution of natural gas.