Allstate Corp Makes New Investment in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)

Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 10,927 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $628,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in Eversource Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $368,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in shares of Eversource Energy in the third quarter worth $442,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 3,810.3% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 15,954 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,086,000 after purchasing an additional 15,546 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Eversource Energy by 0.5% during the third quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 193,317 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,155,000 after buying an additional 1,020 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in Eversource Energy by 0.5% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 59,170 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,016,000 after buying an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. 79.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Eversource Energy from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Eversource Energy from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Eversource Energy from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Eversource Energy in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Eversource Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.40.

Insider Activity at Eversource Energy

In other news, 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 value of $192,507.92. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 22,671 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,411,496.46. This trade represents a 12.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Jay S. Buth sold 980 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 24,374 shares in the company, valued at $1,535,318.26. This trade represents a 3.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Eversource Energy Stock Performance

NYSE ES opened at $62.15 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.45. Eversource Energy has a 12-month low of $54.75 and a 12-month high of $69.01. The firm has a market cap of $22.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.90, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last issued its 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 return on equity of 10.99% and a net margin of 6.82%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Eversource Energy will post 4.75 EPS for the current year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th were paid a $0.7525 dividend. This represents a $3.01 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.84%. This is an increase from Eversource Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. Eversource Energy’s payout ratio is presently 130.30%.

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.