Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Reduces Stake in Eversource Energy $ES

Key Points

• Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund cut its Eversource Energy stake by 50.5% in the first quarter, selling 70,474 shares and leaving it with 69,048 shares worth about $4.78 million.
• Eversource posted better-than-expected quarterly results, reporting EPS of $1.73 versus $1.59 expected and revenue of $4.50 billion versus $4.21 billion expected, with revenue up 9.4% year over year.
• The company paid a quarterly dividend of $0.7875 per share, equal to an annualized yield of 4.2%, while analysts currently hold a consensus “Hold” rating with a target price of $71.91.

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lowered its position in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES - Free Report) by 50.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 69,048 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 70,474 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in Eversource Energy were worth $4,784,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ES. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Eversource Energy by 10.4% in the first quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 118,262 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $8,193,000 after acquiring an additional 11,127 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp grew its stake in shares of Eversource Energy by 50.9% during the 1st quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 6,149 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $426,000 after purchasing an additional 2,074 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Eversource Energy by 23.1% during the 1st quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 4,487 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Eversource Energy by 28.4% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 11,864 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $822,000 after purchasing an additional 2,622 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eversource Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $759,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.99% of the company's stock.

Eversource Energy Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE ES opened at $74.66 on Friday. Eversource Energy has a 52 week low of $61.53 and a 52 week high of $76.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The company has a market capitalization of $28.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.94 and a beta of 0.70. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $70.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.28.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $4.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.21 billion. Eversource Energy had a return on equity of 11.59% and a net margin of 12.55%.The firm's revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.50 EPS. Eversource Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.570-4.720 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Eversource Energy will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Eversource Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a dividend of $0.7875 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $3.15 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. Eversource Energy's payout ratio is currently 67.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eversource Energy

In other Eversource Energy news, VP Gregory B. Butler sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.88, for a total value of $489,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 56,179 shares in the company, valued at $3,925,788.52. This represents a 11.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Argus downgraded shares of Eversource Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Eversource Energy in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Capital One Financial set a $73.00 price target on shares of Eversource Energy in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Eversource Energy from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Eversource Energy from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $71.91.

Eversource Energy Company Profile

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.

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