J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Increases Stock Holdings in Eversource Energy $ES

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG boosted its stake in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 247.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,905 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,023 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in Eversource Energy were worth $1,701,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ES. Investment Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eversource Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $240,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Eversource Energy by 6.1% in the third quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 7,329 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $521,000 after buying an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Eversource Energy in the third quarter worth about $231,000. Sovran Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Eversource Energy in the third quarter worth about $211,000. Finally, Exchange Bank bought a new stake in Eversource Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $206,000. 79.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Eversource Energy Price Performance

ES opened at $69.94 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $67.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $26.24 billion, a PE ratio of 19.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.76. Eversource Energy has a 1 year low of $52.28 and a 1 year high of $75.25.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.28 billion. Eversource Energy had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 11.06%. Eversource Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Eversource Energy will post 4.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th will be issued a $0.7875 dividend. This represents a $3.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 5th. This is an increase from Eversource Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Eversource Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.47%.

Insider Transactions at Eversource Energy

In other Eversource Energy news, EVP James W. Hunt III sold 4,129 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.77, for a total transaction of $300,467.33. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 32,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,358,839.55. This trade represents a 11.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ES shares. Bank of America raised Eversource Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $73.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Eversource Energy from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Mizuho reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $68.00 target price (down from $81.00) on shares of Eversource Energy in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Eversource Energy in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott raised shares of Eversource Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $79.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Eversource Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.50.

Eversource Energy Company Profile

Eversource Energy (NYSE: ES) is a publicly traded, regulated energy company headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut. The company’s core business is the delivery and transmission of electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers across parts of New England. Eversource operates transmission and distribution networks, maintains electrical infrastructure, responds to outages and storms, and manages natural gas pipeline and distribution systems in the regions it serves.

Eversource serves customers primarily in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, operating through locally regulated utility subsidiaries that administer customer service, billing, meter reading and localized operations.