Argus Trims Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) Target Price to $68.00

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) had its price target trimmed by Argus from $85.00 to $68.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also commented on ES. Citigroup increased their price target on Eversource Energy from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. StockNews.com raised Eversource Energy to a sell rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Barclays lowered their price target on Eversource Energy from $66.00 to $61.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Eversource Energy from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Eversource Energy from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $65.08.

Eversource Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ES opened at $59.77 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. Eversource Energy has a twelve month low of $52.03 and a twelve month high of $81.36. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $56.98 and its 200-day moving average is $58.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -47.44, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.58.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.02). Eversource Energy had a positive return on equity of 9.92% and a negative net margin of 3.71%. The firm had revenue of $2.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share. Eversource Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Eversource Energy will post 4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.715 per share. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.79%. This is a boost from Eversource Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 4th. Eversource Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -226.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Linda Dorcena Forry sold 822 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $47,774.64. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $609,388.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Linda Dorcena Forry sold 822 shares of Eversource Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.12, for a total transaction of $47,774.64. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,485 shares in the company, valued at $609,388.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Faasen William C. Van sold 2,714 shares of Eversource Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.50, for a total value of $147,913.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,619 shares in the company, valued at $1,069,235.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 6,250 shares of company stock worth $352,014 in the last ninety days. 0.41% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Eversource Energy

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Eversource Energy by 10.8% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 450,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,168,000 after acquiring an additional 43,720 shares during the period. OLD Republic International Corp bought a new position in shares of Eversource Energy in the third quarter worth about $27,283,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its position in shares of Eversource Energy by 9.8% in the second quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,724,235 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $193,203,000 after buying an additional 242,898 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position 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 buying an additional 723,318 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its position in shares of Eversource Energy by 11.2% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 172,017 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,003,000 after buying an additional 17,345 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.99% of the company’s stock.

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.