New York State Common Retirement Fund Reduces Holdings in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 630,460 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 8,000 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.17% of Eversource Energy worth $36,207,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ES. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Eversource Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Eversource Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Eversource Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Eversource Energy by 104.5% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Eversource Energy by 162.0% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. 79.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eversource Energy

In other Eversource Energy news, insider Frederica M. Williams sold 3,092 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total transaction of $192,507.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 22,671 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,411,496.46. This represents a 12.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on ES. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Eversource Energy from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Eversource Energy from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Eversource Energy from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating on shares of Eversource Energy in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Eversource Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eversource Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.45.

Eversource Energy Stock Up 1.1 %

ES opened at $63.39 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $58.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.55. Eversource Energy has a twelve month low of $54.75 and a twelve month high of $69.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.44, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.62.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.01. Eversource Energy had a net margin of 6.82% and a return on equity of 11.04%. Equities research analysts forecast that Eversource Energy will post 4.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.7525 per share. This is a boost from Eversource Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.01 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 4th. Eversource Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 130.30%.

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.