Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 11,477 Shares of Eversource Energy $ES

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 2.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 421,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 11,477 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of Eversource Energy worth $29,232,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ES. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Eversource Energy by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 47,512,198 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,198,996,000 after buying an additional 697,829 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Eversource Energy by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,013,053 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,886,119,000 after buying an additional 1,265,802 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Eversource Energy by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,635,907 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $646,233,000 after acquiring an additional 194,781 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Eversource Energy by 61.8% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,546,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $642,747,000 after acquiring an additional 3,645,555 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Eversource Energy by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,879,604 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $395,874,000 after acquiring an additional 238,723 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Eversource Energy from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Seaport Research Partners cut shares of Eversource Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Scotiabank cut their target price on Eversource Energy from $66.00 to $63.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $72.00 price target on shares of Eversource Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Argus lowered Eversource Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.91.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Gregory B. Butler sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.88, for a total value of $489,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 56,179 shares in the company, valued at $3,925,788.52. The trade was a 11.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Eversource Energy Price Performance

NYSE ES opened at $74.66 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $28.08 billion, a PE ratio of 15.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.94 and a beta of 0.70. Eversource Energy has a 52 week low of $61.53 and a 52 week high of $76.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.30.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.14. Eversource Energy had a return on equity of 11.59% and a net margin of 12.55%.The firm had revenue of $4.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.50 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Eversource Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.570-4.720 EPS. Research analysts predict that Eversource Energy will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Eversource Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a $0.7875 dividend. This represents a $3.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. Eversource Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.31%.

Eversource Energy Company Profile

Eversource Energy (NYSE: ES) is a publicly traded, regulated energy company headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut. The company’s core business is the delivery and transmission of electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers across parts of New England. Eversource operates transmission and distribution networks, maintains electrical infrastructure, responds to outages and storms, and manages natural gas pipeline and distribution systems in the regions it serves.

Eversource serves customers primarily in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, operating through locally regulated utility subsidiaries that administer customer service, billing, meter reading and localized operations.