Moors & Cabot Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)

Moors & Cabot Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 34,066 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,733 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Eversource Energy were worth $1,956,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ES. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Eversource Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $808,783,000. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 32.2% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 6,482,546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $367,691,000 after buying an additional 1,579,818 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 446.0% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 749,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,019,000 after buying an additional 612,421 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 510,582 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in Eversource Energy by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,539,895 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,737,990,000 after purchasing an additional 430,587 shares during the last quarter. 79.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eversource Energy Price Performance

Shares of ES opened at $59.47 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $21.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.74, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $59.28 and a 200-day moving average of $62.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. Eversource Energy has a 52 week low of $54.75 and a 52 week high of $69.01.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.01. Eversource Energy had a return on equity of 10.99% and a net margin of 6.82%. As a group, analysts forecast that Eversource Energy will post 4.75 EPS for the current year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be given a dividend of $0.7525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $3.01 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.06%. This is a positive change from Eversource Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Eversource Energy’s payout ratio is currently 130.30%.

Insider Activity at Eversource Energy

In related news, VP Jay S. Buth sold 980 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.99, for a total transaction of $61,730.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 24,374 shares in the company, valued at $1,535,318.26. The trade was a 3.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Frederica M. Williams sold 3,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total value of $192,507.92. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 22,671 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,411,496.46. This trade represents a 12.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on ES. Barclays dropped their price objective on Eversource Energy from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded Eversource Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, March 1st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Eversource Energy from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating on shares of Eversource Energy in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Eversource Energy from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.45.

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.