Greenleaf Trust Trims Stake in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)

Greenleaf Trust decreased its position in shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 14.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 8,165 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,398 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Eversource Energy were worth $469,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in Eversource Energy by 15.8% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 13,506 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $766,000 after acquiring an additional 1,846 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 45.2% during the second quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,496 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 1,711 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eversource Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $961,000. Czech National Bank grew its stake in shares of Eversource Energy by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 72,803 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,954,000 after buying an additional 5,678 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Eversource Energy by 24.1% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 37,181 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,530,000 after buying an additional 7,215 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.99% of the company’s stock.

Eversource Energy Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:ES opened at $58.08 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. Eversource Energy has a 12 month low of $52.71 and a 12 month high of $69.01. The company has a market cap of $21.28 billion, a PE ratio of -36.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.83.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.06 billion. Eversource Energy had a positive return on equity of 10.90% and a negative net margin of 4.73%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Eversource Energy will post 4.56 earnings per share for the current 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 $0.7525 dividend. This represents a $3.01 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.18%. This is a boost from Eversource Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. Eversource Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -182.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on ES. Scotiabank downgraded Eversource Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $56.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Eversource Energy from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Eversource Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. StockNews.com raised shares of Eversource Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 21st. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.