Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) Stake Lifted by Squarepoint Ops LLC

Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its stake in shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 53.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 60,481 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,135 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC’s holdings in Eversource Energy were worth $3,430,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new stake in Eversource Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Eversource Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Eversource Energy by 62.6% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its position in Eversource Energy by 49.7% in the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 83.6% in the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 606 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ES. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Eversource Energy from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Eversource Energy from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Eversource Energy from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Eversource Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, July 27th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Eversource Energy from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eversource Energy news, EVP Penelope M. Conner sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.94, for a total transaction of $32,470.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,847 shares in the company, valued at $639,464.18. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Eversource Energy news, EVP Penelope M. Conner sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.94, for a total transaction of $32,470.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,847 shares in the company, valued at $639,464.18. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Penelope M. Conner sold 815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.50, for a total transaction of $53,382.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $591,596. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Eversource Energy Price Performance

ES opened at $67.75 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $66.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. Eversource Energy has a 1 year low of $52.03 and a 1 year high of $69.01. The stock has a market cap of $23.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -57.42, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.61.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.95. Eversource Energy had a positive return on equity of 10.34% and a negative net margin of 0.81%. The business had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.00 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Eversource Energy will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eversource Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd were paid a $0.715 dividend. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. Eversource Energy’s payout ratio is presently -242.37%.

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.