California Public Employees Retirement System Purchases 25,122 Shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)

California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,645,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,122 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.45% of Eversource Energy worth $94,513,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of Eversource Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $808,783,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Eversource Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $188,838,000. Amundi boosted its position 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 worth $367,691,000 after purchasing an additional 1,579,818 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Eversource Energy by 3.2% in the 4th 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. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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 transaction of $192,507.92. Following the sale, the insider now owns 22,671 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,411,496.46. This trade represents a 12.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Jay S. Buth sold 980 shares of Eversource Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.99, for a total transaction of $61,730.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 24,374 shares in the company, valued at $1,535,318.26. This represents a 3.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ES has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Eversource Energy from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Eversource Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Eversource Energy in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target 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. Finally, 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eversource Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.40.

Eversource Energy Stock Performance

Shares of ES opened at $62.19 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.92, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Eversource Energy has a one year low of $54.75 and a one year high of $69.01. The business has a fifty day moving average of $60.36 and a 200 day moving average of $61.50.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last released its quarterly earnings results 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Eversource Energy will post 4.75 EPS for the current year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.7525 per share. This is an increase from Eversource Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $3.01 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.84%. Eversource Energy’s payout ratio is presently 130.30%.

Eversource Energy Company 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.