New York State Common Retirement Fund Lowers Position in Eversource Energy $ES

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 686,460 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 28,100 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.18% of Eversource Energy worth $48,835,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ES. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its holdings in Eversource Energy by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 28,036 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,013,000 after buying an additional 1,503 shares during the period. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC boosted its position in Eversource Energy by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 5,067 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 446 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Eversource Energy by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 70,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,995,000 after acquiring an additional 6,715 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Eversource Energy by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,545,084 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $181,057,000 after purchasing an additional 113,836 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 22.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 6,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $488,000 after purchasing an additional 1,263 shares during the last quarter. 79.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eversource Energy Stock Performance

ES opened at $69.15 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $25.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $67.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $68.21. Eversource Energy has a 1-year low of $52.28 and a 1-year high of $75.25.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last announced its 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. The company had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.28 billion. Eversource Energy had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 11.06%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Eversource Energy will post 4.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th will be issued a $0.7875 dividend. This is an increase from Eversource Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 5th. Eversource Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eversource Energy

In other Eversource Energy news, EVP James W. Hunt III sold 4,129 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,358,839.55. This 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 accessible through the SEC website. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ES has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Eversource Energy from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Eversource Energy from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $79.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Eversource Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $73.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $68.00 price objective (down previously from $81.00) on shares of Eversource Energy in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Eversource Energy from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eversource Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.50.

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.