Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) Price Target Cut to $69.00 by Analysts at Barclays

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) had its target price lowered by Barclays from $72.00 to $69.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on ES. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Eversource Energy in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $52.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho lifted their price target on Eversource Energy from $62.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Eversource Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Eversource Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 21st. 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Eversource Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.83.

Eversource Energy Stock Down 4.2 %

ES opened at $55.80 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $20.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.54, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.97. Eversource Energy has a twelve month low of $52.09 and a twelve month high of $69.01.

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

Eversource Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a dividend of $0.715 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.13%. Eversource Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -182.17%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eversource Energy

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of Eversource Energy during the third quarter worth $808,783,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in Eversource Energy by 446.0% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 749,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,019,000 after acquiring an additional 612,421 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 75.8% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,307,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $74,142,000 after acquiring an additional 563,756 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 41.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,735,901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $99,554,000 after acquiring an additional 510,582 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Eversource Energy by 1.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,539,895 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,737,990,000 after purchasing an additional 430,587 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.99% of the company’s stock.

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.