Westpac Banking Corp Has $6.46 Million Stock Holdings in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)

Westpac Banking Corp boosted its stake in shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 30.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 112,409 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 26,161 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Eversource Energy were worth $6,456,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bryce Point Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eversource Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $497,000. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its stake in Eversource Energy by 235.4% in the 4th quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 28,457 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,631,000 after acquiring an additional 19,973 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Eversource Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $134,000. OLD Mission Capital LLC acquired a new position in Eversource Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,938,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Eversource Energy by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,557,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $547,550,000 after acquiring an additional 517,042 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eversource Energy

In other Eversource Energy news, VP Jay S. Buth sold 980 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.99, for a total value of $61,730.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 24,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,535,318.26. This represents a 3.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Frederica M. Williams sold 3,092 shares of Eversource Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total value of $192,507.92. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 22,671 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,411,496.46. This represents a 12.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on ES shares. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Eversource Energy from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Eversource Energy from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Eversource Energy from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Eversource Energy from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Eversource Energy in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.40.

Eversource Energy Stock Performance

ES opened at $62.68 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. Eversource Energy has a 12-month low of $54.75 and a 12-month high of $69.01. The business has a 50 day moving average of $60.58 and a 200-day moving average of $61.46. The stock has a market cap of $23.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.13, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.58.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.01. Eversource Energy had a return on equity of 10.99% and a net margin of 6.82%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Eversource Energy will post 4.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th were paid a $0.7525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $3.01 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.80%. This is a positive change from Eversource Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Eversource Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 130.30%.

Eversource Energy 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.