Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,550,000 shares, a growth of 12.9% from the August 15th total of 4,030,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,110,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eversource Energy

In other news, EVP Penelope M. Conner sold 815 shares of Eversource Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.50, for a total transaction of $53,382.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $591,596. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Penelope M. Conner sold 815 shares of Eversource Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.50, for a total transaction of $53,382.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $591,596. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Penelope M. Conner sold 500 shares of Eversource Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.94, for a total transaction of $32,470.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $639,464.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Eversource Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ES. Heritage Wealth Advisors purchased a new stake in Eversource Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new position in shares of Eversource Energy in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Eversource Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Eversource Energy by 62.6% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Eversource Energy by 49.7% in the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the period. 79.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ES shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Eversource Energy from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Eversource Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 27th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Eversource Energy from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Eversource Energy from $73.00 to $70.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Eversource Energy from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.93.

Eversource Energy Stock Down 0.2 %

ES opened at $68.23 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $65.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.17. Eversource Energy has a twelve month low of $52.03 and a twelve month high of $69.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -57.82, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.61.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.95. Eversource Energy had a negative net margin of 0.81% and a positive return on equity of 10.34%. The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Eversource Energy will post 4.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Eversource Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.715 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.19%. Eversource Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently -242.37%.

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.