Morgan Stanley Lowers Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) Price Target to $67.00

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) had its price objective lowered by Morgan Stanley from $70.00 to $67.00 in a report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on ES. StockNews.com raised Eversource Energy to a sell rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. UBS Group raised Eversource Energy from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their price target for the company from $62.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Scotiabank cut their price target on Eversource Energy from $61.00 to $57.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Eversource Energy from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Eversource Energy from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Eversource Energy presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $65.86.

Eversource Energy Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE ES opened at $57.19 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.77. Eversource Energy has a one year low of $52.03 and a one year high of $74.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $20.15 billion, a PE ratio of -48.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.60.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.04. Eversource Energy had a positive return on equity of 10.32% and a negative net margin of 3.60%. The firm had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.41 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Eversource Energy will post 4.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eversource Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.715 per share. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Eversource Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -242.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eversource Energy news, EVP Penelope M. Conner sold 2,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.75, for a total transaction of $158,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,272 shares in the company, valued at approximately $603,480. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Penelope M. Conner sold 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.75, for a total value of $158,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,272 shares in the company, valued at approximately $603,480. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Gregory B. Butler sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.20, for a total value of $562,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 63,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,586,009.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eversource Energy

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Eversource Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $43,000. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 60.7% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 29,748 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,778,000 after acquiring an additional 11,233 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Eversource Energy by 283.2% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 91,062 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,443,000 after purchasing an additional 67,300 shares during the last quarter. Burney Co. lifted its stake in Eversource Energy by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. Burney Co. now owns 33,328 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,992,000 after purchasing an additional 2,807 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Eversource Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,928,000. Institutional investors own 79.99% of the company’s stock.

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.