Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Boosts Position in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 52.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 377,186 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 129,553 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Eversource Energy were worth $21,662,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Eversource Energy by 33.0% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 40,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,306,000 after acquiring an additional 9,981 shares in the last quarter. Verity & Verity LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eversource Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $744,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Eversource Energy by 41.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,735,901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $99,554,000 after purchasing an additional 510,582 shares in the last quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA raised its position in shares of Eversource Energy by 125.2% during the 4th quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA now owns 8,093 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $465,000 after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Eversource Energy by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 73,096 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,198,000 after buying an additional 7,967 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ES has been the subject of several recent research reports. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Eversource Energy in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Eversource Energy from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Eversource Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Eversource Energy from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating and set a $58.00 target price (down previously from $69.00) on shares of Eversource Energy in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.78.

Eversource Energy Stock Performance

Shares of ES stock opened at $58.49 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $60.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.74. Eversource Energy has a one year low of $52.28 and a one year high of $69.01. 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 (NYSE:ES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Eversource Energy will post 4.75 EPS for the current year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were paid a $0.7525 dividend. This is a positive change 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 payout ratio is currently 130.30%.

Insider Transactions at Eversource Energy

In related news, insider Frederica M. Williams sold 3,092 shares of Eversource Energy 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 value 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 approximately $1,535,318.26. This represents a 3.87 % 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.

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.