Allianz SE Acquires New Shares in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)

Allianz SE acquired a new stake in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 24,584 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,409,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ES. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in Eversource Energy in the third quarter valued at about $808,783,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Eversource Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $188,838,000. Amundi lifted its stake in Eversource Energy by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 6,482,546 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $367,691,000 after acquiring an additional 1,579,818 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Eversource Energy by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,609,716 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,561,936,000 after acquiring an additional 1,387,072 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Eversource Energy by 446.0% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 749,736 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $51,019,000 after acquiring an additional 612,421 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.99% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Eversource Energy

In other Eversource Energy news, VP Jay S. Buth sold 980 shares of Eversource Energy 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 24,374 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,535,318.26. The trade was a 3.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Frederica M. Williams sold 3,092 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 22,671 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,411,496.46. This represents a 12.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ES shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Eversource Energy from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Eversource Energy from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a "sector underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Eversource Energy in a report on Monday, February 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Eversource Energy from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Barclays lowered 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 report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $67.40.

Eversource Energy Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Eversource Energy stock traded down $0.06 on Thursday, hitting $62.57. 468,529 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,793,835. Eversource Energy has a one year low of $54.75 and a one year high of $69.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a fifty day moving average of $60.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.46. The company has a market capitalization of $22.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.58.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.01. Eversource Energy had a net margin of 6.82% and a return on equity of 10.99%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Eversource Energy will post 4.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th were issued a $0.7525 dividend. This is a boost from Eversource Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.01 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. Eversource Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.