Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) Short Interest Update

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) saw a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 6,019,797 shares, an increase of 22.2% from the December 15th total of 4,926,687 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,337,678 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days. Approximately 1.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Approximately 1.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,337,678 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Eversource Energy Price Performance

ES opened at $70.81 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $67.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.57 billion, a PE ratio of 19.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.76. Eversource Energy has a 52 week low of $52.28 and a 52 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. Eversource Energy had a return on equity of 11.06% and a net margin of 10.22%.The firm’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Eversource Energy will post 4.75 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $0.7525 dividend. 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 is 82.47%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP James W. Hunt III sold 4,129 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 32,415 shares in the company, valued at $2,358,839.55. This represents a 11.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ES. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Eversource Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $274,744,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Eversource Energy by 43,905.7% in the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,692,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $171,309,000 after buying an additional 2,686,588 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Eversource Energy by 412.7% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,800,618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $127,133,000 after buying an additional 1,449,388 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its stake in Eversource Energy by 331.5% during the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,566,577 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $111,446,000 after buying an additional 1,203,563 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Eversource Energy by 2.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,814,369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,330,374,000 after acquiring an additional 1,161,708 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ES has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. 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 note on Thursday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Eversource Energy from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Eversource Energy in a report on Monday, November 24th. Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $68.00 target price (down from $81.00) on shares of Eversource Energy in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Eversource Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.27.

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.