BMO Capital Markets Boosts Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) Price Target to $74.00

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) had its price target boosted by BMO Capital Markets from $70.00 to $74.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on ES. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Eversource Energy from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Eversource Energy from $62.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday. Scotiabank raised their target price on Eversource Energy from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. StockNews.com cut Eversource Energy from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Saturday, July 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Eversource Energy from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $70.00.

Eversource Energy Price Performance

Eversource Energy stock opened at $65.38 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $23.03 billion, a PE ratio of -55.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $66.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.85. Eversource Energy has a one year low of $52.03 and a one year high of $69.01.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.90 billion. Eversource Energy had a positive return on equity of 10.34% and a negative net margin of 0.81%. Eversource Energy’s revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Eversource Energy will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eversource Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued a $0.715 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.37%. Eversource Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -242.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eversource Energy news, EVP Penelope M. Conner sold 815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.50, for a total value of $53,382.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,032 shares in the company, valued at approximately $591,596. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Penelope M. Conner sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.94, for a total transaction of $32,470.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,847 shares in the company, valued at $639,464.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Penelope M. Conner sold 815 shares of Eversource Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.50, for a total value of $53,382.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,032 shares in the company, valued at approximately $591,596. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Eversource Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Eversource Energy by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 10,613 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $667,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its holdings in Eversource Energy by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 45,719 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,822,000 after acquiring an additional 1,624 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Eversource Energy by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 779,315 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,099,000 after acquiring an additional 126,696 shares in the last quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Eversource Energy by 33.4% in the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 4,957 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240 shares during the period. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Eversource Energy by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 38,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,405,000 after purchasing an additional 3,390 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.99% of the company’s stock.

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.