Plato Investment Management Ltd Trims Stock Position in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)

Plato Investment Management Ltd cut its position in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 43.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 55,320 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 41,951 shares during the quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Eversource Energy were worth $3,761,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Eversource Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $78,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Eversource Energy by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,139 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $726,000 after buying an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Eversource Energy by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 7,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $475,000 after buying an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 433,484 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,909,000 after acquiring an additional 30,996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Eversource Energy by 16.3% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 432,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,877,000 after acquiring an additional 60,721 shares in the last quarter. 79.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ES. Bank of America raised their price target on Eversource Energy from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. StockNews.com upgraded Eversource Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Eversource Energy from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Eversource Energy from $62.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Eversource Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.46.

Eversource Energy Stock Performance

Eversource Energy stock opened at $60.82 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. The firm has a market cap of $22.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -38.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.61. Eversource Energy has a 1-year low of $52.09 and a 1-year high of $69.01. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $65.63 and a 200-day moving average of $62.86.

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

Eversource Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd were given a dividend of $0.715 per share. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.70%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. Eversource Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -182.17%.

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.