Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. Buys Shares of 3,967 Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)

Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 3,967 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $228,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mystic Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Eversource Energy by 44.9% during the 4th quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,439 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $772,000 after buying an additional 4,164 shares in the last quarter. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eversource Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $57,000. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Eversource Energy by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 13,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $761,000 after buying an additional 1,313 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp raised its position in shares of Eversource Energy by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 57,378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,295,000 after buying an additional 9,136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glenview Trust co raised its position in shares of Eversource Energy by 48.5% during the 4th quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 7,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $451,000 after buying an additional 2,567 shares in the last quarter. 79.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Eversource Energy Stock Performance

Eversource Energy stock opened at $61.86 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.94. The company has a market cap of $22.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Eversource Energy has a fifty-two week low of $54.75 and a fifty-two week high of $69.01.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.01. Eversource Energy had a net margin of 6.82% and a return on equity of 10.99%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Eversource Energy will post 4.75 EPS for the current year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be given a dividend of $0.7525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 4th. This is an increase from Eversource Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.01 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.87%. Eversource Energy’s payout ratio is presently 130.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ES has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Eversource Energy from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Eversource Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Eversource Energy from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Scotiabank dropped 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 report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Eversource Energy from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.45.

Insider Activity at Eversource Energy

In related news, VP Jay S. Buth sold 980 shares of the business’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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 24,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,535,318.26. The trade was a 3.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Frederica M. Williams sold 3,092 shares of the business’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 transaction of $192,507.92. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 22,671 shares in the company, valued at $1,411,496.46. The trade was a 12.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Eversource Energy

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.