Westpac Banking Corp Has $6.46 Million Stock Position in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)

Westpac Banking Corp boosted its stake in shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 30.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 112,409 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,161 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Eversource Energy were worth $6,456,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ES. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eversource Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Eversource Energy by 99.2% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Eversource Energy by 104.5% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Eversource Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 38.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. 79.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eversource Energy news, VP Jay S. Buth sold 980 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.99, for a total transaction of $61,730.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 24,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,535,318.26. This trade represents a 3.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Frederica M. Williams sold 3,092 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total value of $192,507.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ES has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating on shares of Eversource Energy in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays reduced their price objective 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. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Eversource Energy from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Eversource Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Eversource Energy from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Eversource Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.40.

Eversource Energy Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE ES opened at $62.68 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. Eversource Energy has a 52 week low of $54.75 and a 52 week high of $69.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $60.58 and a 200-day moving average of $61.46.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Eversource Energy will post 4.75 EPS for the current year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were paid a $0.7525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. This is a boost from Eversource Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.01 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.80%. Eversource Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 130.30%.

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.