Eversource Energy $ES Stock Acquired by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 100.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 138,525 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 69,477 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Eversource Energy were worth $8,888,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ES. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Eversource Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $3,086,413,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Eversource Energy by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,620,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $478,457,000 after buying an additional 88,163 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Eversource Energy in the 2nd quarter worth $359,215,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in Eversource Energy in the 2nd quarter worth $311,548,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in Eversource Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $272,105,000. 79.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Eversource Energy from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday. Mizuho boosted their price target on Eversource Energy from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Eversource Energy from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Eversource Energy from $73.00 to $68.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 19th. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on Eversource Energy in a research note on Friday, November 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $76.00 price objective for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Eversource Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.17.

Eversource Energy Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:ES opened at $71.12 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.02. The firm has a market cap of $26.82 billion, a PE ratio of 15.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66. Eversource Energy has a 12-month low of $62.72 and a 12-month high of $76.57.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.02. Eversource Energy had a net margin of 10.38% and a return on equity of 10.67%. The firm had revenue of $2.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Eversource Energy will post 4.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eversource Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 21st were given a $0.7875 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 21st. This represents a $3.15 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. Eversource Energy’s payout ratio is presently 83.11%.

Eversource Energy Company Profile

Eversource Energy is a public utility holding company that delivers electricity and natural gas to customers in New England. Its businesses include electric transmission and distribution, natural gas distribution, and related energy services. The company serves customers in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire through local utility subsidiaries. Its operations include maintaining and upgrading the networks used to deliver energy to homes and businesses. Eversource traces its history to Northeast Utilities, which adopted the Eversource Energy name in 2015 after combining with NSTAR.