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

Farther Finance Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 25.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor 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 filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Eversource Energy by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,539,895 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,737,990,000 after buying an additional 430,587 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in Eversource Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $808,783,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Eversource Energy by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,933,838 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $570,500,000 after buying an additional 226,972 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Eversource Energy by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,040,171 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $613,233,000 after buying an additional 268,588 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in Eversource Energy by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,019,064 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $477,647,000 after buying an additional 185,381 shares in the last quarter. 79.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Jay S. Buth sold 980 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.99, for a total value 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 represents a 3.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Frederica M. Williams sold 3,092 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now owns 22,671 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,411,496.46. The trade was a 12.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ES has been the subject of several analyst reports. 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 report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays decreased their price target 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. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Eversource Energy in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com raised Eversource Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price target 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.45.

Eversource Energy Price Performance

ES opened at $61.58 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $59.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.93. Eversource Energy has a 12-month low of $54.75 and a 12-month high of $69.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The firm has a market cap of $22.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.66, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.60.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Eversource Energy will post 4.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.7525 per share. This is an increase from Eversource Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $3.01 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.89%. Eversource Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 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.