John G Ullman & Associates Inc. Buys 54,650 Shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 112.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 103,450 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 54,650 shares during the quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Eversource Energy were worth $5,941,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Eversource Energy during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eversource Energy during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eversource Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted 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 boosted its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 104.5% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the period. 79.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eversource Energy Price Performance

ES stock opened at $63.01 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $58.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.45. Eversource Energy has a 52-week low of $54.75 and a 52-week high of $69.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.28, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.62. 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 (NYSE:ES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Eversource Energy will post 4.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be given a dividend of $0.7525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $3.01 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.78%. This is an increase from Eversource Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Eversource Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 130.30%.

Insider Activity at Eversource Energy

In other Eversource Energy news, VP Jay S. Buth sold 980 shares of Eversource Energy stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 24,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,535,318.26. The trade was a 3.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Frederica M. Williams sold 3,092 shares of Eversource Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total transaction of $192,507.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 22,671 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,411,496.46. This trade represents a 12.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.41% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on ES. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Eversource Energy from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating on shares of Eversource Energy in a report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Eversource Energy from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Eversource Energy from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.45.

Eversource Energy Company Profile

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.