Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) Position Lessened by Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. trimmed its position in shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 17.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,377 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,527 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Eversource Energy were worth $424,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ES. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in Eversource Energy by 2.8% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 6,147 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $418,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Eversource Energy by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,855 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Eversource Energy by 38.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in Eversource Energy by 1.0% during the third quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 20,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,368,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Eversource Energy by 1.8% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 11,930 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $812,000 after buying an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. 79.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eversource Energy Stock Down 2.9 %

NYSE ES opened at $59.68 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $57.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.70. The company has a market capitalization of $21.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -38.01, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.62. Eversource Energy has a 1-year low of $53.76 and a 1-year high of $69.01.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last announced its 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 positive return on equity of 10.90% and a negative net margin of 4.73%. Equities analysts forecast that Eversource Energy will post 4.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be 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 5.04%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. Eversource Energy’s payout ratio is presently -182.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on ES. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Eversource Energy from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com upgraded Eversource Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 21st. Scotiabank lowered Eversource Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $56.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays decreased their target price on Eversource Energy from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Eversource Energy in a research report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.42.

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.