CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Raises Position in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its position in shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 640,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 56,408 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned 0.17% of Eversource Energy worth $36,757,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Eversource Energy by 38.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,470,356 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $945,893,000 after purchasing an additional 4,585,232 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Eversource Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $188,838,000. Amundi increased its holdings in Eversource Energy by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 6,482,546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $367,691,000 after buying an additional 1,579,818 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Eversource Energy by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,609,716 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,561,936,000 after buying an additional 1,387,072 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Magellan Asset Management Ltd lifted its stake in Eversource Energy by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 6,474,477 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $371,829,000 after acquiring an additional 890,514 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ES. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Eversource Energy from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Eversource Energy from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating on shares of Eversource Energy in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Eversource Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $58.00 target price (down from $69.00) on shares of Eversource Energy in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eversource Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.78.

Eversource Energy Stock Performance

Shares of ES opened at $57.38 on Friday. Eversource Energy has a 52 week low of $52.28 and a 52 week high of $69.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The stock has a market cap of $21.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.84, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.56.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last issued 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%. On average, analysts expect that Eversource Energy will post 4.75 EPS for the current year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.7525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. This is a boost from Eversource Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.01 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.25%. Eversource Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.