California Public Employees Retirement System Acquires 25,122 Shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)

California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,645,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,122 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Eversource Energy were worth $94,513,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Eversource Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 99.2% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 104.5% in the fourth 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 period. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Eversource Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Eversource Energy by 38.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Eversource Energy

In related news, VP Jay S. Buth sold 980 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was 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. This represents a 3.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Frederica M. Williams sold 3,092 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 22,671 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,411,496.46. This represents a 12.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.41% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Eversource Energy Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:ES opened at $62.19 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $60.36 and its 200 day moving average is $61.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Eversource Energy has a 1 year low of $54.75 and a 1 year high of $69.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.60.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) 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, research analysts predict that Eversource Energy will post 4.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 is a positive change from Eversource Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.01 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.84%. Eversource Energy’s payout ratio is 130.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ES. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Eversource Energy in a research report on Monday, February 10th. 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 report on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Eversource Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Eversource Energy from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.40.

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.