Eversource Energy’s (ES) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Guggenheim

Guggenheim reiterated their buy rating on shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on ES. 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 report on Wednesday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Eversource Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Eversource Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 21st. Scotiabank lowered shares of Eversource Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $56.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Eversource Energy from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.42.

Eversource Energy Trading Down 2.9 %

NYSE:ES opened at $59.68 on Monday. Eversource Energy has a 52 week low of $53.76 and a 52 week high of $69.01. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $57.94 and a 200 day moving average of $62.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -38.01, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.62.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.01. Eversource Energy had a negative net margin of 4.73% and a positive return on equity of 10.90%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Eversource Energy will post 4.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 represents a $3.01 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.04%. 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 (DPR) is currently -182.17%.

Institutional Trading of Eversource Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Eversource Energy by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,609,716 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,561,936,000 after buying an additional 1,387,072 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Eversource Energy by 1.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,539,895 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,737,990,000 after buying an additional 430,587 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in 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 buying an additional 4,585,232 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Eversource Energy by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,933,838 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $570,500,000 after purchasing an additional 226,972 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Eversource Energy by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,557,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $547,550,000 after purchasing an additional 517,042 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.99% of the company’s stock.

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.