Jefferies Financial Group Has Lowered Expectations for Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) Stock Price

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) had its price objective lowered by Jefferies Financial Group from $52.00 to $47.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an underperform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

ES has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Eversource Energy from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Scotiabank lowered shares of Eversource Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Eversource Energy from $62.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Eversource Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Eversource Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eversource Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.42.

Eversource Energy Stock Up 0.2 %

ES stock opened at $57.37 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.02 billion, a PE ratio of -36.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.62. Eversource Energy has a 12 month low of $52.71 and a 12 month high of $69.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.06 billion. Eversource Energy had a negative net margin of 4.73% and a positive return on equity of 10.90%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Eversource Energy will post 4.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be paid a $0.7525 dividend. This represents a $3.01 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 4th. This is an increase from Eversource Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Eversource Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -182.17%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eversource Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ES. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Eversource Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Eversource Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Eversource Energy by 62.9% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 513 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the period. 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 worth $38,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the period. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Eversource Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.99% of the company’s stock.

About Eversource Energy

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.