CoreFirst Bank & Trust Acquires Shares of 907 Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)

CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 907 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $52,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ES. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in Eversource Energy in the third quarter valued at $808,783,000. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 32.2% in 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. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Eversource Energy by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,609,716 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,561,936,000 after buying an additional 1,387,072 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in Eversource Energy by 446.0% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 749,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,019,000 after acquiring an additional 612,421 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Eversource Energy by 41.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,735,901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $99,554,000 after acquiring an additional 510,582 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Eversource Energy

In other Eversource Energy news, insider Frederica M. Williams sold 3,092 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total value of $192,507.92. Following the transaction, the insider now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $61,730.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 24,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,535,318.26. This represents a 3.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Eversource Energy Trading Down 3.1 %

Shares of Eversource Energy stock opened at $59.00 on Wednesday. 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 twelve month low of $54.75 and a twelve month high of $69.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.66 billion, a PE ratio of 25.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $60.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.69.

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

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.7525 per share. This represents a $3.01 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.10%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. This is a boost from Eversource Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Eversource Energy’s payout ratio is 130.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ES has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays lowered their price objective on Eversource Energy from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Scotiabank lowered 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Eversource Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Eversource Energy from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Eversource Energy from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eversource Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.40.

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.