Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. Sells 1,336 Shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)

Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 18.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,336 shares during the period. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Eversource Energy were worth $372,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ES. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Eversource Energy by 101,201.5% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 12,617,104 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,057,818,000 after purchasing an additional 12,604,649 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its holdings in Eversource Energy by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 7,863,718 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $557,695,000 after purchasing an additional 128,215 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Eversource Energy by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,548,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $589,477,000 after buying an additional 124,871 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Eversource Energy by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,296,972 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $404,856,000 after buying an additional 134,492 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Eversource Energy by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,628,663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $385,457,000 after buying an additional 163,053 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on ES. StockNews.com raised Eversource Energy to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Barclays lowered their target price on Eversource Energy from $66.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Guggenheim raised Eversource Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $60.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. UBS Group raised Eversource Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $62.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Eversource Energy from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eversource Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.08.

Eversource Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Eversource Energy stock opened at $58.51 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $20.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -46.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $58.40 and its 200-day moving average is $57.77. Eversource Energy has a one year low of $52.03 and a one year high of $79.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $2.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3 billion. Eversource Energy had a negative net margin of 3.71% and a positive return on equity of 9.92%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Eversource Energy will post 4.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 5th were given a $0.715 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 4th. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.89%. This is an increase from Eversource Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Eversource Energy’s payout ratio is currently -226.98%.

Insider Activity at Eversource Energy

In other Eversource Energy news, insider Linda Dorcena Forry sold 822 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.12, for a total transaction of $47,774.64. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $609,388.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Eversource Energy news, insider Linda Dorcena Forry sold 822 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.12, for a total transaction of $47,774.64. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $609,388.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Frederica M. Williams sold 2,714 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.60, for a total value of $156,326.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,621 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,245,369.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Eversource Energy 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.