Steph & Co. Lowers Holdings in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)

Steph & Co. reduced its stake in shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 28.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,775 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 710 shares during the period. Steph & Co.’s holdings in Eversource Energy were worth $102,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. grew its position in Eversource Energy by 46.9% during the third quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 31,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,151,000 after acquiring an additional 10,093 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 41.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,735,901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $99,554,000 after purchasing an additional 510,582 shares during the period. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Eversource Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,616,000. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in Eversource Energy by 23.2% in the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 134,647 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,636,000 after buying an additional 25,377 shares during the period. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its position in Eversource Energy by 94.0% during the third quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 57,425 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,908,000 after buying an additional 27,817 shares in the last quarter. 79.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ES has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Eversource Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 21st. Barclays upped their price target on Eversource Energy from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Eversource Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Eversource Energy in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set an “underperform” rating and a $52.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank lowered shares of Eversource Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $66.00 to $56.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.38.

Eversource Energy Stock Performance

ES stock opened at $58.15 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.89. Eversource Energy has a 12-month low of $52.09 and a 12-month high of $69.01. The firm has a market cap of $21.30 billion, a P/E ratio of -37.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.05. Eversource Energy had a negative net margin of 4.73% and a positive return on equity of 10.90%. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Eversource Energy will post 4.56 EPS for the current year.

Eversource Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $0.715 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.92%. Eversource Energy’s payout ratio is currently -182.17%.

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.