Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) Shares Sold by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. cut its holdings in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 40.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 468,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 321,594 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned about 0.13% of Eversource Energy worth $31,878,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bensler LLC acquired a new stake in Eversource Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $316,000. M&G Plc lifted its stake in Eversource Energy by 16.8% in the second quarter. M&G Plc now owns 1,626,685 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $92,721,000 after buying an additional 234,361 shares during the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. lifted its stake in Eversource Energy by 46.9% in the third quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 31,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,151,000 after buying an additional 10,093 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Eversource Energy by 283.2% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 91,062 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,443,000 after buying an additional 67,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank increased its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 23.2% during the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 134,647 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,636,000 after purchasing an additional 25,377 shares during the period. 79.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eversource Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ES opened at $61.64 on Friday. Eversource Energy has a 1-year low of $52.09 and a 1-year high of $69.01. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.03. 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 firm has a market cap of $22.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -39.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.60.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.06 billion. Eversource Energy had a positive return on equity of 10.90% and a negative net margin of 4.73%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Eversource Energy will post 4.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Eversource Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be given a dividend of $0.715 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.64%. Eversource Energy’s payout ratio is -182.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ES. Barclays lifted their target price on Eversource Energy from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Eversource Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Mizuho upped their target price on Eversource Energy from $62.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Eversource Energy from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Eversource Energy in a research report on Tuesday. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $52.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.15.

Eversource Energy Company 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.