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

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) saw a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 6,019,797 shares, an increase of 22.2% from the December 15th total of 4,926,687 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,337,678 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,337,678 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Eversource Energy Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of ES traded up $0.40 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $70.09. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,203,488 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,937,658. The company has a market cap of $26.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a fifty day moving average of $68.02 and a 200 day moving average of $67.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. Eversource Energy has a 1 year low of $52.28 and a 1 year high of $75.25.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.28 billion. Eversource Energy had a return on equity of 11.06% and a net margin of 10.22%.Eversource Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Eversource Energy will post 4.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eversource Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 17th were issued a $0.7525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.01 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. Eversource Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Eversource Energy from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $68.00 price objective (down from $81.00) on shares of Eversource Energy in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Eversource Energy in a report on Friday, October 31st. Bank of America raised Eversource Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $73.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Eversource Energy in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eversource Energy

In other news, EVP James W. Hunt III sold 4,129 shares of Eversource Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.77, for a total value of $300,467.33. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 32,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,358,839.55. The trade was a 11.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Eversource Energy

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ES. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its position in Eversource Energy by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 419,251 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,673,000 after acquiring an additional 30,641 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank bought a new position in Eversource Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Eversource Energy by 31.1% in the second quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 39,391 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,506,000 after purchasing an additional 9,350 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 1.5% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,652,661 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,904,422,000 after purchasing an additional 691,165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eversource Energy in the second quarter valued at $477,000. 79.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Eversource Energy

Eversource Energy (NYSE: ES) is a publicly traded, regulated energy company headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut. The company’s core business is the delivery and transmission of electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers across parts of New England. Eversource operates transmission and distribution networks, maintains electrical infrastructure, responds to outages and storms, and manages natural gas pipeline and distribution systems in the regions it serves.

Eversource serves customers primarily in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, operating through locally regulated utility subsidiaries that administer customer service, billing, meter reading and localized operations.