Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) Price Target to $75.00

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) had its target price lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $79.00 to $75.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Barclays cut their price target on Eversource Energy from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Eversource Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 21st. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating on shares of Eversource Energy in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Eversource Energy from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded Eversource Energy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $56.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Eversource Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.45.

Eversource Energy Price Performance

ES stock opened at $61.57 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $22.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -39.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.66. Eversource Energy has a 1 year low of $54.75 and a 1 year high of $69.01.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.01. Eversource Energy had a negative net margin of 4.73% and a positive return on equity of 10.90%. Research analysts anticipate that Eversource Energy will post 4.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be paid a $0.7525 dividend. This represents a $3.01 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.89%. This is an increase from Eversource Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. Eversource Energy’s payout ratio is currently -182.17%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eversource Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ES. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Eversource Energy by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 7,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 534 shares during the period. Utah Retirement Systems increased its stake in Eversource Energy by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 59,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Eversource Energy by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,699,583 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $212,467,000 after purchasing an additional 564,409 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of Eversource Energy by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 772,531 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,366,000 after buying an additional 3,534 shares during the period. Finally, Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC increased its position in Eversource Energy by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 8,571 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $492,000 after buying an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. 79.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.