Verity & Verity LLC Sells 6,627 Shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)

Verity & Verity LLC lessened its holdings in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 51.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,332 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,627 shares during the period. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in Eversource Energy were worth $393,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Eversource Energy by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,609,716 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,561,936,000 after acquiring an additional 1,387,072 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Eversource Energy by 38.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,470,356 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $945,893,000 after acquiring an additional 4,585,232 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Eversource Energy by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,933,838 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $570,500,000 after buying an additional 226,972 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Eversource Energy by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,557,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $547,550,000 after buying an additional 517,042 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in Eversource Energy by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,352,593 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $422,259,000 after buying an additional 333,529 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Eversource Energy

In other Eversource Energy news, EVP Penelope M. Conner sold 2,600 shares of Eversource Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.00, for a total transaction of $166,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,988 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $703,232. The trade was a 19.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ES shares. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Eversource Energy from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Eversource Energy from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating and set a $58.00 price target (down previously from $69.00) on shares of Eversource Energy in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Eversource Energy from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Eversource Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.78.

Eversource Energy Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:ES opened at $65.83 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $24.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.50, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. Eversource Energy has a 52-week low of $52.28 and a 52-week high of $69.01. The business has a fifty day moving average of $61.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.15.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. The firm 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%. Eversource Energy’s revenue was up 23.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior 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 year.

Eversource Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.7525 per share. This represents a $3.01 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.57%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Eversource Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.