Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Raises Position in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 223,735 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,220 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Eversource Energy were worth $12,849,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ES. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Eversource Energy during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eversource Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Eversource Energy by 99.2% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 162.0% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Eversource Energy by 104.5% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the period. 79.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Eversource Energy

In related news, VP Jay S. Buth sold 980 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 24,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,535,318.26. This represents a 3.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Frederica M. Williams sold 3,092 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total value of $192,507.92. Following the sale, 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. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Eversource Energy Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:ES opened at $60.90 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. Eversource Energy has a one year low of $54.75 and a one year high of $69.01. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.75. The stock has a market cap of $22.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.60.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.01. Eversource Energy had a return on equity of 10.99% and a net margin of 6.82%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Eversource Energy will post 4.75 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be given a $0.7525 dividend. This is a boost from Eversource Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $3.01 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.94%. Eversource Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 130.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on ES. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target 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. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Eversource Energy from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Eversource Energy from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Eversource Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Eversource Energy in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Eversource Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.45.

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.