StockNews.com Downgrades Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) to Sell

StockNews.com lowered shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Friday.

ES has been the subject of several other reports. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Eversource Energy from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays dropped 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. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Eversource Energy in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Eversource Energy from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Eversource Energy from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.45.

Eversource Energy Trading Down 1.0 %

ES stock opened at $60.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $59.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.80. The firm has a market cap of $22.38 billion, a PE ratio of 26.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.60. Eversource Energy has a fifty-two week low of $54.75 and a fifty-two week high of $69.01.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.01. Eversource Energy had a net margin of 6.82% and a return on equity of 10.99%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Eversource Energy will post 4.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be issued a $0.7525 dividend. This is an increase from Eversource Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.01 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.94%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. Eversource Energy’s payout ratio is presently 130.30%.

Insider Activity at Eversource Energy

In related news, insider Frederica M. Williams sold 3,092 shares of Eversource Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total value of $192,507.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 22,671 shares in the company, valued at $1,411,496.46. The trade was a 12.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Jay S. Buth sold 980 shares of Eversource Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.99, for a total value of $61,730.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 24,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,535,318.26. The trade was a 3.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eversource Energy

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Eversource Energy by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,609,716 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,561,936,000 after purchasing an additional 1,387,072 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Eversource Energy by 1.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,539,895 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,737,990,000 after purchasing an additional 430,587 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Eversource Energy by 38.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,470,356 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $945,893,000 after purchasing an additional 4,585,232 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Eversource Energy by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,933,838 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $570,500,000 after purchasing an additional 226,972 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Eversource Energy by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,557,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $547,550,000 after purchasing an additional 517,042 shares in the last quarter. 79.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.