Scotiabank Cuts Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) Price Target to $57.00

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) had its price target lowered by Scotiabank from $61.00 to $57.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a sector perform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on ES. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Eversource Energy from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Barclays dropped their target price on Eversource Energy from $66.00 to $61.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Eversource Energy from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Eversource Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a buy rating and a $73.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Eversource Energy from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Eversource Energy currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $65.85.

Eversource Energy Stock Performance

Eversource Energy stock opened at $60.85 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $58.89 and a 200-day moving average of $57.92. Eversource Energy has a 52 week low of $52.03 and a 52 week high of $79.92. The stock has a market cap of $21.34 billion, a P/E ratio of -48.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.02). Eversource Energy had a positive return on equity of 9.92% and a negative net margin of 3.71%. The firm had revenue of $2.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Eversource Energy will post 4.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.715 per share. This is a positive change from Eversource Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 4th. Eversource Energy’s payout ratio is presently -226.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Linda Dorcena Forry sold 822 shares of Eversource Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.12, for a total transaction of $47,774.64. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $609,388.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Frederica M. Williams sold 2,714 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.60, for a total value of $156,326.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 21,621 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,245,369.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Linda Dorcena Forry sold 822 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.12, for a total value of $47,774.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $609,388.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eversource Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ES. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Eversource Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $149,906,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Eversource Energy by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,464,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $259,595,000 after acquiring an additional 723,318 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Eversource Energy by 23.7% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,663,024 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $213,005,000 after acquiring an additional 702,360 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its position in Eversource Energy by 1,551.5% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 708,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,196,000 after acquiring an additional 665,540 shares during the period. Finally, Clean Energy Transition LLP acquired a new stake in Eversource Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $40,181,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.99% of the company’s stock.

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.