Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 47,189 Shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 548,858 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 47,189 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Eversource Energy were worth $31,455,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ES. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of Eversource Energy during the third quarter valued at about $808,783,000. Amundi increased its stake in Eversource Energy by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 6,482,546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $367,691,000 after buying an additional 1,579,818 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Eversource Energy by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,609,716 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,561,936,000 after buying an additional 1,387,072 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 446.0% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 749,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,019,000 after acquiring an additional 612,421 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Eversource Energy by 41.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,735,901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $99,554,000 after acquiring an additional 510,582 shares during the last quarter. 79.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ES has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Eversource Energy from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Eversource Energy from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating on shares of Eversource Energy in a report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Eversource Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.40.

Eversource Energy Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE:ES opened at $61.13 on Friday. Eversource Energy has a 1 year low of $54.75 and a 1 year high of $69.01. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $60.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a market cap of $22.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.60.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 10.99% and a net margin of 6.82%. As a group, analysts expect that Eversource Energy will post 4.75 EPS for the current year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.7525 per share. This represents a $3.01 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 4th. This is a positive change from Eversource Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Eversource Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 130.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Frederica M. Williams sold 3,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total transaction of $192,507.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 22,671 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,411,496.46. The trade was a 12.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Jay S. Buth sold 980 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.99, for a total transaction of $61,730.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 24,374 shares in the company, valued at $1,535,318.26. The trade was a 3.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.41% 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.