Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Decreases Holdings in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lowered its holdings in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 262,281 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,869 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned about 0.07% of Eversource Energy worth $15,063,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Eversource Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 99.2% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Eversource Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Eversource Energy by 104.5% in 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 during the period. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Eversource Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ES. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Eversource Energy from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Eversource Energy from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Eversource Energy from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Eversource Energy in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Eversource Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Eversource Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.45.

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 on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total value of $192,507.92. Following the sale, the insider now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Jay S. Buth sold 980 shares of Eversource Energy stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.99, for a total value of $61,730.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 24,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,535,318.26. This trade represents a 3.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Eversource Energy Stock Up 0.3 %

ES opened at $61.55 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Eversource Energy has a 12 month low of $54.75 and a 12 month high of $69.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.98.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.01. Eversource Energy had a return on equity of 10.99% and a net margin of 6.82%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Eversource Energy will post 4.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be given a dividend of $0.7525 per share. This is a positive change from Eversource Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.01 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.89%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. Eversource Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 130.30%.

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.