Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $71.2727.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ES shares. Scotiabank cut their price target on Eversource Energy from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Eversource Energy in a report on Friday, October 31st. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Eversource Energy in a report on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $76.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Eversource Energy from $79.00 to $77.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered Eversource Energy from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $79.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP James W. Hunt III sold 4,129 shares of Eversource Energy stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.77, for a total transaction of $300,467.33. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 32,415 shares of the company’s stock, 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ES. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Eversource Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Eversource Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new position in Eversource Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH acquired a new position in shares of Eversource Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eversource Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 79.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Eversource Energy Stock Performance

Eversource Energy stock opened at $67.16 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. Eversource Energy has a 12-month low of $52.28 and a 12-month high of $75.25.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.07. Eversource Energy had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 11.06%. The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Eversource Energy will post 4.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eversource Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 17th will be given a $0.7525 dividend. This represents a $3.01 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 17th. Eversource Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.47%.

About Eversource Energy

Eversource Energy (NYSE: ES) is a publicly traded, regulated energy company headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut. The company’s core business is the delivery and transmission of electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers across parts of New England. Eversource operates transmission and distribution networks, maintains electrical infrastructure, responds to outages and storms, and manages natural gas pipeline and distribution systems in the regions it serves.

Eversource serves customers primarily in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, operating through locally regulated utility subsidiaries that administer customer service, billing, meter reading and localized operations.