Farther Finance Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 25.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,249 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 751 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Eversource Energy were worth $129,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ES. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in Eversource Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $808,783,000. Amundi increased its position in Eversource Energy by 32.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 6,482,546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $367,691,000 after buying an additional 1,579,818 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position 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 buying an additional 612,421 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Eversource Energy by 41.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,735,901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $99,554,000 after buying an additional 510,582 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased 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 worth $1,737,990,000 after buying an additional 430,587 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.99% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Frederica M. Williams sold 3,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total value of $192,507.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 22,671 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,411,496.46. The trade was a 12.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Jay S. Buth sold 980 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.99, for a total value of $61,730.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 24,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,535,318.26. This trade represents a 3.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Eversource Energy from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Eversource Energy from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on 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. Barclays lowered their target price on Eversource Energy from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Eversource Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.45.

Eversource Energy Stock Up 0.1 %

Eversource Energy stock opened at $61.58 on Friday. 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 1-year low of $54.75 and a 1-year high of $69.01. The company has a market cap of $22.61 billion, a PE ratio of 26.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $59.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.93.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts predict that Eversource Energy will post 4.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be given 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 an increase from Eversource Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. Eversource Energy’s payout ratio is presently 130.30%.

Eversource Energy 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.