Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Raises Position in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES - Free Report) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 100,801 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,714 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in Eversource Energy were worth $5,789,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its stake in Eversource Energy by 53.7% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 60,481 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,430,000 after buying an additional 21,135 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Eversource Energy by 80.8% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 170,351 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,661,000 after acquiring an additional 76,149 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in Eversource Energy by 15.8% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 13,506 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $766,000 after purchasing an additional 1,846 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in Eversource Energy by 45.2% during the 2nd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,496 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 1,711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eversource Energy in the second quarter valued at $935,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Eversource Energy from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank downgraded Eversource Energy from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector underperform" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Eversource Energy from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Eversource Energy from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Eversource Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, December 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $67.42.

Eversource Energy Trading Up 0.2 %

ES traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $57.37. 2,693,858 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,537,234. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -36.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.62. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $58.77 and its 200-day moving average price 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 1-year low of $52.71 and a 1-year high of $69.01.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.05. Eversource Energy had a negative net margin of 4.73% and a positive return on equity of 10.90%. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. Eversource Energy's revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Eversource Energy will post 4.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be given a dividend of $0.7525 per share. This represents a $3.01 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.25%. This is a positive change from Eversource Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. Eversource Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently -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.