Jefferies Financial Group Cuts Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) Price Target to $47.00

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) had its price target trimmed by Jefferies Financial Group from $52.00 to $47.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an underperform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Eversource Energy from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Eversource Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank cut shares of Eversource Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $66.00 to $56.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Eversource Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 21st. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Eversource Energy from $62.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eversource Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.42.

Eversource Energy Stock Performance

NYSE ES opened at $57.37 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Eversource Energy has a 1 year low of $52.71 and a 1 year high of $69.01. The company has a market capitalization of $21.02 billion, a PE ratio of -36.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a fifty day moving average of $58.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $62.87.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last released 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. Eversource Energy had a negative net margin of 4.73% and a positive return on equity of 10.90%. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. Eversource Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Eversource Energy will post 4.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.7525 per share. This is a boost from Eversource Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.01 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.25%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. Eversource Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently -182.17%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 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 worth $418,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its position in Eversource Energy by 14.7% during the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,316 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $90,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position 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 worth $107,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Eversource Energy by 38.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its position 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 worth $1,368,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. 79.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.