National Bank of Canada FI Sells 480,915 Shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)

National Bank of Canada FI lowered its holdings in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 64.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 268,821 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 480,915 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Eversource Energy were worth $15,439,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Eversource Energy by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,426,436 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $139,350,000 after purchasing an additional 11,041 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG boosted its stake in shares of Eversource Energy by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 48,459 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,783,000 after acquiring an additional 2,800 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Eversource Energy by 38.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,470,356 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $945,893,000 after purchasing an additional 4,585,232 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,645,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $94,513,000 after purchasing an additional 25,122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz SE bought a new position in shares of Eversource Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,409,000. 79.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ES has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Eversource Energy from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays lowered their target price on 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. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Eversource Energy from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Eversource Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced 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 report on Tuesday, January 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Eversource Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eversource Energy

In other news, VP Jay S. Buth sold 980 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.99, for a total transaction of $61,730.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 24,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,535,318.26. This represents a 3.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Frederica M. Williams sold 3,092 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,411,496.46. This trade represents a 12.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Eversource Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Eversource Energy stock opened at $58.48 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The company has a market cap of $21.47 billion, a PE ratio of 25.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50 day moving average of $60.73 and a 200-day moving average of $61.40. Eversource Energy has a 1-year low of $54.75 and a 1-year high of $69.01.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Eversource Energy will post 4.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 is a positive change from Eversource Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.01 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.15%. Eversource Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 130.30%.

Eversource Energy Company 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.