National Bank of Canada FI Sells 480,915 Shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)

National Bank of Canada FI cut its stake in shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 64.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 268,821 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 480,915 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned approximately 0.07% of Eversource Energy worth $15,439,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in Eversource Energy by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,855 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC lifted its position in Eversource Energy by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 4,893 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $281,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH grew its holdings in Eversource Energy by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 9,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $522,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. increased its position in Eversource Energy by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 7,732 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.99% of the company’s stock.

Eversource Energy Stock Down 5.6 %

Eversource Energy stock opened at $58.48 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.31, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Eversource Energy has a fifty-two week low of $54.75 and a fifty-two week high of $69.01.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.01. Eversource Energy had a net margin of 6.82% and a return on equity of 10.99%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Eversource Energy will post 4.75 EPS for the current year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were issued a $0.7525 dividend. This is an increase from Eversource Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.01 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. Eversource Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 130.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ES has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Eversource Energy from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Eversource Energy in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price 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. StockNews.com upgraded Eversource Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Eversource Energy from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.44.

Insider Transactions at Eversource Energy

In other news, VP Jay S. Buth sold 980 shares of the 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 owns 24,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,535,318.26. This represents a 3.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Frederica M. Williams sold 3,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 22,671 shares in the company, valued at $1,411,496.46. This represents a 12.00 % 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.

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.