Cerity Partners LLC Grows Holdings in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)

Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 536.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 118,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 99,652 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Eversource Energy were worth $7,298,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Eversource Energy by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 450,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,168,000 after buying an additional 43,720 shares during the last quarter. OLD Republic International Corp purchased a new position in shares of Eversource Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,283,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in shares of Eversource Energy by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 127,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,859,000 after buying an additional 15,770 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its stake in Eversource Energy by 11.2% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 172,017 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,003,000 after purchasing an additional 17,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Eversource Energy by 19.3% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,464,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $259,595,000 after purchasing an additional 723,318 shares during the last quarter. 79.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eversource Energy Price Performance

Shares of ES opened at $58.24 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -46.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.67. Eversource Energy has a one year low of $52.03 and a one year high of $79.92. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $58.24 and its 200-day moving average is $57.77.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $2.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3 billion. Eversource Energy had a negative net margin of 3.71% and a positive return on equity of 9.92%. Eversource Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.92 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Eversource Energy will post 4.52 EPS for the current year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.715 per share. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.91%. This is a positive change from Eversource Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 4th. Eversource Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -226.98%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Faasen William C. Van sold 2,714 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.50, for a total transaction of $147,913.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 19,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,069,235.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Linda Dorcena Forry sold 822 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $609,388.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Faasen William C. Van sold 2,714 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.50, for a total value of $147,913.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,069,235.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 6,250 shares of company stock valued at $352,014. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on Eversource Energy from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Argus reduced their price objective on Eversource Energy from $85.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Eversource Energy to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. UBS Group upgraded Eversource Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Eversource Energy from $66.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Eversource Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.08.

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.