Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) Increases Dividend to $0.75 Per Share

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 29th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be paid a dividend of 0.7525 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.01 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 4th. This is a positive change from Eversource Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72.

Eversource Energy has increased its dividend payment by an average of 5.9% per year over the last three years. Eversource Energy has a payout ratio of 56.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Eversource Energy to earn $4.77 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.86 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 60.0%.

Eversource Energy Stock Performance

Shares of ES opened at $57.37 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $58.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. Eversource Energy has a 52-week low of $52.71 and a 52-week high of $69.01.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ES has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Eversource Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank lowered shares of Eversource Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $56.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Eversource Energy from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Eversource Energy from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Eversource Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.42.

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.