Mizuho Securities USA LLC Acquires 11,552 Shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) by 49.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 34,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,552 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Eversource Energy were worth $1,994,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ES. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Eversource Energy by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,539,895 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,737,990,000 after purchasing an additional 430,587 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in Eversource Energy during the third quarter valued at $808,783,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Eversource Energy by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,933,838 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $570,500,000 after acquiring an additional 226,972 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Eversource Energy by 3.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,040,171 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $613,233,000 after acquiring an additional 268,588 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 2.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,019,064 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $477,647,000 after acquiring an additional 185,381 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Eversource Energy from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Eversource Energy in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced 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 report on Tuesday, January 28th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Eversource Energy from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Eversource Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eversource Energy news, 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 24,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,535,318.26. The trade was a 3.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 Eversource Energy stock in a transaction on 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Eversource Energy Stock Performance

ES stock opened at $60.90 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market cap of $22.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $60.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.75.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.7525 per share. 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 4.94%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. Eversource Energy’s dividend payout ratio 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.