24,570 Shares in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) Acquired by Essential Planning LLC.

Essential Planning LLC. bought a new position in shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 24,570 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,534,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,539,895 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,737,990,000 after acquiring an additional 430,587 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in shares of Eversource Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $808,783,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,933,838 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $570,500,000 after acquiring an additional 226,972 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,040,171 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $613,233,000 after acquiring an additional 268,588 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,019,064 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $477,647,000 after acquiring an additional 185,381 shares during the last quarter. 79.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Eversource Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:ES opened at $59.47 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $59.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.13. The company has a market cap of $21.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.74, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Eversource Energy will post 4.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be given a dividend of $0.7525 per share. 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 5.06%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. Eversource Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 130.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on ES. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Eversource Energy from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Eversource Energy from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Eversource Energy from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com lowered Eversource Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, March 1st. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Eversource Energy in a report on Monday, February 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have issued 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 $67.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Jay S. Buth sold 980 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 24,374 shares in the company, valued at $1,535,318.26. This represents a 3.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Eversource Energy Company Profile

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.