Legal & General Group Plc Lowers Holdings in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its stake in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES - Free Report) by 15.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,111,003 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 949,894 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 1.39% of Eversource Energy worth $293,525,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Eversource Energy by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,609,716 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,561,936,000 after purchasing an additional 1,387,072 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake 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 worth $945,893,000 after acquiring an additional 4,585,232 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Eversource Energy by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,933,838 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $570,500,000 after acquiring an additional 226,972 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Eversource Energy by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,557,213 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $547,550,000 after acquiring an additional 517,042 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in Eversource Energy by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,352,593 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $422,259,000 after purchasing an additional 333,529 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.99% of the company's stock.

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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 value of $61,730.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 24,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,535,318.26. The trade was a 3.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Frederica M. Williams sold 3,092 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total transaction of $192,507.92. Following the sale, the insider now owns 22,671 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,411,496.46. This trade 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.

Eversource Energy Stock Up 2.5 %

ES traded up $1.43 on Monday, reaching $57.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 724,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,318,900. The company has a market capitalization of $21.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.58. Eversource Energy has a fifty-two week low of $52.28 and a fifty-two week high of $69.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $60.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.80.

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, beating 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, analysts forecast that Eversource Energy will post 4.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were issued a $0.7525 dividend. This is an increase from Eversource Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.01 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. Eversource Energy's payout ratio is presently 130.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ES has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Eversource Energy from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised Eversource Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays decreased their target price on Eversource Energy from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Scotiabank cut their price target on Eversource Energy from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a "sector underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Eversource Energy in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $65.78.

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.