Eversource Energy (ES) vs. Its Rivals Financial Contrast

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) is one of 103 public companies in the “Electric Utilities” industry, but how does it contrast to its peers? We will compare Eversource Energy to related companies based on the strength of its valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, institutional ownership and earnings.

Dividends

Eversource Energy pays an annual dividend of $3.15 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. Eversource Energy pays out 83.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. As a group, “Electric Utilities” companies pay a dividend yield of 3.1% and pay out 64.0% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Eversource Energy has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

80.0% of Eversource Energy shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 60.0% of shares of all “Electric Utilities” companies are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Eversource Energy shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.2% of shares of all “Electric Utilities” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Eversource Energy and its peers revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Eversource Energy	$13.55 billion	$1.69 billion	18.72
Eversource Energy Competitors	$65.53 billion	$1.54 billion	20.07

Eversource Energy’s peers have higher revenue, but lower earnings than Eversource Energy. Eversource Energy is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Risk and Volatility

Eversource Energy has a beta of 0.66, suggesting that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Eversource Energy’s peers have a beta of -2.37, suggesting that their average share price is 337% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Eversource Energy and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Eversource Energy	3	7	4	0	2.07
Eversource Energy Competitors	1426	6543	5520	140	2.32

Eversource Energy currently has a consensus price target of $73.17, indicating a potential upside of 3.15%. As a group, “Electric Utilities” companies have a potential upside of 3.85%. Given Eversource Energy’s peers stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Eversource Energy has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Profitability

This table compares Eversource Energy and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Eversource Energy	10.38%	10.67%	2.75%
Eversource Energy Competitors	14.26%	9.78%	3.23%

Summary

Eversource Energy peers beat Eversource Energy on 10 of the 15 factors compared.

About Eversource Energy

Eversource Energy is a public utility holding company that delivers electricity and natural gas to customers in New England. Its businesses include electric transmission and distribution, natural gas distribution, and related energy services. The company serves customers in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire through local utility subsidiaries. Its operations include maintaining and upgrading the networks used to deliver energy to homes and businesses. Eversource traces its history to Northeast Utilities, which adopted the Eversource Energy name in 2015 after combining with NSTAR.