Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $71.2727.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ES. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Eversource Energy from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 20th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Eversource Energy from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $79.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. UBS Group cut their price target on Eversource Energy from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on Eversource Energy in a report on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $76.00 price target for the company.

Insider Activity

In related 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 value of $300,467.33. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 32,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,358,839.55. The trade was a 11.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eversource Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its position in Eversource Energy by 7.9% in the second quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 419,251 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,673,000 after buying an additional 30,641 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in shares of Eversource Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 31.1% in the 2nd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 39,391 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,506,000 after acquiring an additional 9,350 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Eversource Energy by 1.5% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,652,661 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,904,422,000 after purchasing an additional 691,165 shares during the period. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eversource Energy during the second quarter worth $477,000. Institutional investors own 79.99% of the company’s stock.

Eversource Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ES opened at $70.09 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.90. The company has a market cap of $26.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.20, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.76. 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 has a one year low of $52.28 and a one year high of $75.25.

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

Eversource Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 17th were given a dividend of $0.7525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.01 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. Eversource Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.47%.

Eversource Energy Company Profile

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.