Pitcairn Co. Acquires 2,279 Shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)

Pitcairn Co. increased its holdings in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 65.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,279 shares during the quarter. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Eversource Energy were worth $331,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ES. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Eversource Energy by 38.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,470,356 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $945,893,000 after purchasing an additional 4,585,232 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Eversource Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $188,838,000. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 32.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Eversource Energy by 3.2% in 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 during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of Eversource Energy by 446.0% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 749,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,019,000 after acquiring an additional 612,421 shares in the last quarter. 79.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Eversource Energy news, VP Jay S. Buth sold 980 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.99, for a total transaction of $61,730.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 24,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,535,318.26. This represents a 3.87 % 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. Also, insider Frederica M. Williams sold 3,092 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $1,411,496.46. The trade was a 12.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Eversource Energy Trading Down 5.6 %

Shares of NYSE:ES opened at $58.48 on Monday. 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 1 year low of $54.75 and a 1 year high of $69.01. The company has a market cap of $21.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.31, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $60.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.31.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) 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 10.99%. Sell-side analysts expect that Eversource Energy will post 4.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.7525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. This is a positive change from Eversource Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.01 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.15%. Eversource Energy’s payout ratio is currently 130.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on ES. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Eversource Energy in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Eversource Energy from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective 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. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Eversource Energy from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Eversource Energy from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.44.

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.