Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Reduces Position in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC reduced its stake in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 262,281 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,869 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Eversource Energy were worth $15,063,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its stake in Eversource Energy by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 6,147 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $418,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,855 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Eversource Energy by 38.4% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC increased its stake in Eversource Energy by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 4,893 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $281,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Eversource Energy by 1.9% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,306 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $837,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on ES. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Eversource Energy from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of Eversource Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Eversource Energy from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Eversource Energy in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Eversource Energy from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Eversource Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Frederica M. Williams sold 3,092 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total transaction of $192,507.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 22,671 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,411,496.46. This trade represents a 12.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Jay S. Buth sold 980 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $1,535,318.26. This represents a 3.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Eversource Energy Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of ES opened at $61.55 on Tuesday. Eversource Energy has a 12 month low of $54.75 and a 12 month high of $69.01. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $59.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market cap of $22.59 billion, a PE ratio of 26.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.60.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.01. Eversource Energy had a return on equity of 10.99% and a net margin of 6.82%. Equities analysts forecast that Eversource Energy will post 4.75 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 issued a dividend of $0.7525 per share. This represents a $3.01 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.89%. This is a positive change from Eversource Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. Eversource Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 130.30%.

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.