JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) Price Target to $71.00

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) had its target price reduced by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $72.00 to $71.00 in a research report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an underweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

ES has been the subject of several other research reports. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Eversource Energy from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. UBS Group lowered shares of Eversource Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $78.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Eversource Energy from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $79.00 to $63.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Bank of America raised shares of Eversource Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $73.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Eversource Energy in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eversource Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.73.

Eversource Energy Stock Performance

ES opened at $68.22 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.69, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a fifty day moving average of $70.73 and a 200 day moving average of $67.29. Eversource Energy has a fifty-two week low of $52.28 and a fifty-two week high of $75.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.71.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.07. Eversource Energy had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 11.06%. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Eversource Energy will post 4.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eversource Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 17th will be issued a $0.7525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.01 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. Eversource Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.47%.

Insider Transactions at Eversource Energy

In other news, EVP James W. Hunt III sold 4,129 shares of Eversource Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.77, for a total value of $300,467.33. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 32,415 shares in the company, valued at $2,358,839.55. This trade represents a 11.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Eversource Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ES. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Eversource Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Eversource Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. purchased a new position in Eversource Energy in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH purchased a new stake in shares of Eversource Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eversource Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.99% of the company’s stock.

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.