The Goldman Sachs Group Begins Coverage on Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)

The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $73.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock.

ES has been the subject of several other research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Eversource Energy from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. UBS Group raised shares of Eversource Energy from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their price target for the company from $62.00 to $67.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Mizuho raised shares of Eversource Energy from a neutral rating to a buy rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $62.00 in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Eversource Energy from $66.00 to $61.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Argus cut their price objective on Eversource Energy from $85.00 to $68.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $66.08.

Eversource Energy Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of ES stock opened at $58.79 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $20.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -46.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. Eversource Energy has a fifty-two week low of $52.03 and a fifty-two week high of $79.93. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $58.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.79.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $2.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3 billion. Eversource Energy had a negative net margin of 3.71% and a positive return on equity of 9.92%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Eversource Energy will post 4.52 EPS for the current year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 5th were paid a $0.715 dividend. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.86%. This is a positive change from Eversource Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 4th. Eversource Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently -226.98%.

Insider Activity at Eversource Energy

In related news, insider Faasen William C. Van sold 2,714 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.50, for a total value of $147,913.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,619 shares in the company, valued at $1,069,235.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Eversource Energy news, insider Linda Dorcena Forry sold 822 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.12, for a total transaction of $47,774.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,485 shares in the company, valued at $609,388.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Faasen William C. Van sold 2,714 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.50, for a total value of $147,913.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,069,235.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 6,250 shares of company stock worth $352,014. 0.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Eversource Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Eversource Energy by 10.8% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 450,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,168,000 after buying an additional 43,720 shares in the last quarter. OLD Republic International Corp bought a new position in Eversource Energy in the third quarter valued at about $27,283,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in Eversource Energy by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 127,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,859,000 after acquiring an additional 15,770 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its holdings in Eversource Energy by 11.2% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 172,017 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,003,000 after acquiring an additional 17,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Eversource Energy by 19.3% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,464,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $259,595,000 after acquiring an additional 723,318 shares during the last quarter. 79.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.