FIL Ltd Acquires 9,780 Shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)

FIL Ltd raised its stake in shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 16.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 69,429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,780 shares during the quarter. FIL Ltd’s holdings in Eversource Energy were worth $3,987,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ES. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Eversource Energy by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,855 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $107,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Eversource Energy by 38.4% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Eversource Energy by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 4,893 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $281,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH boosted its stake in shares of Eversource Energy by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 9,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $522,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Eversource Energy by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 7,732 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $444,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on ES. StockNews.com lowered Eversource Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 6th. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Eversource Energy from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Eversource Energy from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays decreased their target price on Eversource Energy from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $58.00 price target (down previously from $69.00) on shares of Eversource Energy in a report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eversource Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.78.

Eversource Energy Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:ES opened at $56.27 on Friday. Eversource Energy has a 52 week low of $52.28 and a 52 week high of $69.01. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $60.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.84. The firm has a market cap of $20.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.01. Eversource Energy had a return on equity of 10.99% and a net margin of 6.82%. On average, equities analysts expect that Eversource Energy will post 4.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.7525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $3.01 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.35%. This is a positive change from Eversource Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Eversource Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 130.30%.

Eversource Energy Company 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.