Eversource Energy (ES) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.75 on March 31st

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 29th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be paid a dividend of 0.7525 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.01 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.78%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. This is a positive change from Eversource Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72.

Eversource Energy has increased its dividend by an average of 5.9% annually over the last three years. Eversource Energy has a payout ratio of 59.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Eversource Energy to earn $5.02 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.01 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 60.0%.

Eversource Energy Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE ES opened at $63.01 on Friday. Eversource Energy has a one year low of $54.75 and a one year high of $69.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.28, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.62.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Eversource Energy

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ES. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating on shares of Eversource Energy in a report on Monday, February 10th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Eversource Energy from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Eversource Energy from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Eversource Energy from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Eversource Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.45.

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.