New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 28,100 Shares of Eversource Energy $ES

New York State Common Retirement Fund lowered its stake in shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 3.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 686,460 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 28,100 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Eversource Energy were worth $48,835,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH boosted its holdings in Eversource Energy by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 419,251 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,673,000 after purchasing an additional 30,641 shares during the period. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in Eversource Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Eversource Energy by 31.1% during the second quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 39,391 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,506,000 after buying an additional 9,350 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Eversource Energy by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,652,661 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,904,422,000 after purchasing an additional 691,165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Eversource Energy in the second quarter worth $477,000. 79.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP James W. Hunt III sold 4,129 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.77, for a total value of $300,467.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 32,415 shares in the company, valued at $2,358,839.55. This trade represents a 11.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.41% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Eversource Energy Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Eversource Energy stock opened at $69.15 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $25.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.21. Eversource Energy has a 1-year low of $52.28 and a 1-year high of $75.25.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.07. Eversource Energy had a net margin of 10.22% and a return on equity of 11.06%. The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Eversource Energy will post 4.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th will be given a $0.7875 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 5th. This is an increase from Eversource Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. Eversource Energy’s payout ratio is 82.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group reduced their price target on Eversource Energy from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Eversource Energy from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Eversource Energy in a report on Monday, November 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Eversource Energy in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho restated a “neutral” rating and set a $68.00 price objective (down from $81.00) on shares of Eversource Energy in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.50.

Eversource Energy Company Profile

Eversource Energy (NYSE: ES) is a publicly traded, regulated energy company headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut. The company’s core business is the delivery and transmission of electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers across parts of New England. Eversource operates transmission and distribution networks, maintains electrical infrastructure, responds to outages and storms, and manages natural gas pipeline and distribution systems in the regions it serves.

Eversource serves customers primarily in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, operating through locally regulated utility subsidiaries that administer customer service, billing, meter reading and localized operations.