First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Acquires New Stake in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. acquired a new stake in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,535 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $280,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 19.3% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,464,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $259,595,000 after purchasing an additional 723,318 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 23.7% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,663,024 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $213,005,000 after purchasing an additional 702,360 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 1,551.5% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 708,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,196,000 after purchasing an additional 665,540 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 11.6% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,824,459 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $339,974,000 after purchasing an additional 605,702 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 18.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,590,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $208,815,000 after purchasing an additional 559,448 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.99% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Linda Dorcena Forry sold 822 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.12, for a total value of $47,774.64. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $609,388.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Linda Dorcena Forry sold 822 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.12, for a total value of $47,774.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $609,388.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Frederica M. Williams sold 2,714 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.60, for a total value of $156,326.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 21,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,245,369.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Eversource Energy Stock Performance

Eversource Energy stock opened at $61.17 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $59.25 and a 200-day moving average of $58.24. The firm has a market cap of $21.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -51.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.57. Eversource Energy has a 1-year low of $52.03 and a 1-year high of $77.92.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.04. Eversource Energy had a negative net margin of 3.60% and a positive return on equity of 10.22%. The business had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.69 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.41 earnings per share. Eversource Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Eversource Energy will post 4.49 EPS for the current year.

Eversource Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.715 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.68%. Eversource Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -242.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on ES. Citigroup increased their target price on Eversource Energy from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. UBS Group raised Eversource Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $62.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Eversource Energy from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Argus reduced their target price on Eversource Energy from $85.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Eversource Energy to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Eversource Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.23.

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.