Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Sells 279,425 Shares of Eversource Energy $ES

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 83.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 54,829 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 279,425 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Eversource Energy were worth $3,518,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Eversource Energy during the second quarter worth about $3,086,413,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Eversource Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $359,215,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of Eversource Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $311,548,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in shares of Eversource Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $272,105,000. Finally, Magellan Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Eversource Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $248,397,000. Institutional investors own 79.99% of the company’s stock.

Eversource Energy Stock Performance

NYSE ES opened at $71.12 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $26.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.77, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a 50 day moving average of $67.33 and a 200-day moving average of $70.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. Eversource Energy has a 1-year low of $62.72 and a 1-year high of $76.57.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.20 billion. Eversource Energy had a net margin of 10.38% and a return on equity of 10.67%. Eversource Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Eversource Energy will post 4.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eversource Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 21st were issued a dividend of $0.7875 per share. This represents a $3.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 21st. Eversource Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on ES. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Eversource Energy from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. HSBC initiated coverage on Eversource Energy in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. They set a “hold” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Eversource Energy from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Eversource Energy from $73.00 to $68.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 19th. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Eversource Energy in a research note on Friday, November 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $76.00 target price on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Eversource Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.17.

Eversource Energy Profile

Eversource Energy is a public utility holding company that delivers electricity and natural gas to customers in New England. Its businesses include electric transmission and distribution, natural gas distribution, and related energy services. The company serves customers in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire through local utility subsidiaries. Its operations include maintaining and upgrading the networks used to deliver energy to homes and businesses. Eversource traces its history to Northeast Utilities, which adopted the Eversource Energy name in 2015 after combining with NSTAR.