Wealthfront Advisers LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Eversource Energy $ES

Wealthfront Advisers LLC lowered its stake in shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 24.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 175,282 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 56,426 shares during the quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in Eversource Energy were worth $12,470,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH boosted its position in shares of Eversource Energy by 7.9% in the second quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 419,251 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,673,000 after buying an additional 30,641 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Eversource Energy by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 386,853 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,521,000 after acquiring an additional 19,795 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Eversource Energy by 31.1% in the 2nd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 39,391 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,506,000 after acquiring an additional 9,350 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Eversource Energy by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,652,661 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,904,422,000 after acquiring an additional 691,165 shares during the period. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Eversource Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $477,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.99% of the company’s stock.

Eversource Energy Price Performance

Shares of ES stock opened at $69.26 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $68.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.36. The firm has a market cap of $25.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.77. Eversource Energy has a 1-year low of $52.28 and a 1-year high of $75.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.64.

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 issued a $0.7875 dividend. This is an increase from Eversource Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.15 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 5th. Eversource Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on ES. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Eversource Energy in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $76.00 target price on the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded shares of Eversource Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $79.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, November 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Eversource Energy from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $79.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Jefferies Financial Group restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Eversource Energy in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Mizuho reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $68.00 price target (down previously from $81.00) on shares of Eversource Energy in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eversource Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $71.50.

About Eversource Energy

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.