Pacer Advisors Inc. Raises Position in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)

Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 43.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,608 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,414 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Eversource Energy were worth $2,160,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Eversource Energy by 1.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in Eversource Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $808,783,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Eversource Energy by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,040,171 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $613,233,000 after buying an additional 268,588 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position 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 buying an additional 185,381 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Eversource Energy by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,956,214 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $337,270,000 after buying an additional 216,630 shares during the last quarter. 79.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Scotiabank lowered Eversource Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $56.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Eversource Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Eversource Energy from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Eversource Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 21st. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Eversource Energy from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.42.

Eversource Energy Price Performance

Eversource Energy stock opened at $57.64 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -36.71, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.62. Eversource Energy has a one year low of $52.71 and a one year high of $69.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $58.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.83.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.05. Eversource Energy had a positive return on equity of 10.90% and a negative net margin of 4.73%. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Eversource Energy will post 4.56 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 5.22%. The ex-dividend date 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 -182.17%.

Eversource Energy 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.