Merit Financial Group LLC Boosts Stake in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 35.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,131 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,611 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Eversource Energy were worth $352,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new stake in Eversource Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,168,000. Burney Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 43,495 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,498,000 after purchasing an additional 967 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in Eversource Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $395,000. Accurate Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Eversource Energy by 159.6% in the fourth quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,627 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $536,000 after acquiring an additional 5,919 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Code Waechter LLC grew its stake in shares of Eversource Energy by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Code Waechter LLC now owns 15,606 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $896,000 after acquiring an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ES. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Eversource Energy from $62.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays reduced their price objective on Eversource Energy from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Eversource Energy in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $52.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Eversource Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Eversource Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.83.

Eversource Energy Stock Performance

Shares of ES stock opened at $56.31 on Friday. Eversource Energy has a 12-month low of $52.71 and a 12-month high of $69.01. The company has a market capitalization of $20.63 billion, a P/E ratio of -35.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. The business’s 50 day moving average is $59.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.87.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.05. Eversource Energy had a negative net margin of 4.73% and a positive return on equity of 10.90%. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.06 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Eversource Energy will post 4.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eversource Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.715 per share. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Eversource Energy’s payout ratio is -182.17%.

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.