Invesco Ltd. Acquires 850,217 Shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)

Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 16.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,004,089 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 850,217 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd.’s holdings in Eversource Energy were worth $344,815,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Eversource Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Eversource Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 99.2% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 104.5% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Eversource Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. 79.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eversource Energy news, insider Frederica M. Williams sold 3,092 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total transaction of $192,507.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 22,671 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,411,496.46. This trade represents a 12.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $61,730.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 24,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,535,318.26. This trade represents a 3.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Eversource Energy Stock Performance

Eversource Energy stock opened at $56.42 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $60.50 and its 200 day moving average is $60.98. Eversource Energy has a 1-year low of $52.28 and a 1-year high of $69.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.58.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. Research analysts forecast that Eversource Energy will post 4.75 EPS for the current year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.7525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $3.01 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.33%. This is an increase from Eversource Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Eversource Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 130.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ES has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Eversource Energy from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Eversource Energy from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com lowered Eversource Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Eversource Energy from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim reissued 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 issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.44.

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.