AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC Takes $636,000 Position in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)

AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES – Get Rating) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 8,152 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $636,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 571.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 329 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Eversource Energy by 293.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Eversource Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Coston McIsaac & Partners acquired a new position in Eversource Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Eversource Energy by 25.9% during the 3rd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 685 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. 77.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Frederica M. Williams sold 1,943 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.83, for a total value of $153,166.69. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 20,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,636,747.29. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Eversource Energy Stock Up 1.2 %

ES stock opened at $74.92 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $80.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.73. Eversource Energy has a 52 week low of $70.54 and a 52 week high of $94.63. The company has a market capitalization of $26.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.45.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by ($0.02). Eversource Energy had a return on equity of 9.38% and a net margin of 11.43%. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Eversource Energy will post 4.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 2nd will be issued a $0.675 dividend. This is an increase from Eversource Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 1st. Eversource Energy’s payout ratio is presently 66.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on ES. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Eversource Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 21st. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Eversource Energy from $91.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 16th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Eversource Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $86.00 to $92.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Eversource Energy from $99.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Eversource Energy from $90.00 to $87.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Eversource Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.00.

About Eversource Energy

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Eversource Energy engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of natural gas and electricity. It operates through the following segments: Electric Distribution, Electric Transmission, Water Distribution and Natural Gas Distribution. The Electric Distribution segment distributes electricity to retail customers.