Rockland Trust Co. Cuts Stake in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)

Rockland Trust Co. cut its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 13,670 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 382 shares during the quarter. Rockland Trust Co.’s holdings in Eversource Energy were worth $785,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $99,554,000 after acquiring an additional 510,582 shares during the period. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. boosted its stake in shares of Eversource Energy by 46.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 10,093 shares during the period. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Eversource Energy in the third quarter worth approximately $3,616,000. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in shares of Eversource Energy by 23.2% in the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 134,647 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,636,000 after buying an additional 25,377 shares during the period. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise raised its holdings in Eversource Energy by 94.0% during the 3rd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 57,425 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,908,000 after buying an additional 27,817 shares during the last quarter. 79.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ES has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Eversource Energy in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $52.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Eversource Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays increased their price objective on Eversource Energy from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank cut 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 research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Eversource Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.38.

Eversource Energy Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE:ES opened at $56.63 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $59.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $62.94. The company has a market capitalization of $20.75 billion, a PE ratio of -36.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.62. Eversource Energy has a 1-year low of $52.09 and a 1-year high of $69.01.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Eversource Energy will post 4.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eversource Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a dividend of $0.715 per share. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.05%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Eversource Energy’s payout ratio is -182.17%.

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.