Morgan Stanley Lowers Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) Price Target to $67.00

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) had its target price trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $70.00 to $67.00 in a research report report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on ES. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Eversource Energy from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Eversource Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a buy rating and a $73.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group upgraded shares of Eversource Energy from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Eversource Energy from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Argus lowered their price objective on shares of Eversource Energy from $85.00 to $68.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eversource Energy presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $65.86.

Eversource Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ES opened at $57.19 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.77. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $59.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.77. Eversource Energy has a fifty-two week low of $52.03 and a fifty-two week high of $74.81. The firm has a market cap of $20.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -48.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.60.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.04. Eversource Energy had a negative net margin of 3.60% and a positive return on equity of 10.32%. The firm had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.41 earnings per share. Eversource Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Eversource Energy will post 4.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eversource Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.715 dividend. This represents a $2.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Eversource Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently -242.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Penelope M. Conner sold 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.75, for a total value of $158,625.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $603,480. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Penelope M. Conner sold 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.75, for a total value of $158,625.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $603,480. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Gregory B. Butler sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.20, for a total transaction of $562,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 63,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,586,009.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Eversource Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $43,000. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its position in Eversource Energy by 60.7% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 29,748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,778,000 after purchasing an additional 11,233 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in Eversource Energy by 283.2% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 91,062 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,443,000 after purchasing an additional 67,300 shares during the period. Burney Co. increased its position in Eversource Energy by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. Burney Co. now owns 33,328 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,992,000 after purchasing an additional 2,807 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Eversource Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,928,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.99% of the company’s stock.

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.