Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Reduces Stock Holdings in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS cut its position in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 479,238 shares of the company’s stock after selling 349 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS owned approximately 0.17% of Essential Utilities worth $17,406,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Essential Utilities during the third quarter worth about $28,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 61.4% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 75.0% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares during the period. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WTRG opened at $38.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The company has a market cap of $10.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $36.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.85. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.18 and a 1-year high of $41.78.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.89%. The firm had revenue of $604.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $698.77 million. Analysts forecast that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.3255 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is currently 59.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on WTRG. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Profile

Essential Utilities, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates regulated utilities that provide water, wastewater, or natural gas services in the United States. The company operates through Regulated Water and Regulated Natural Gas segments. It offers water services through operating and maintenance contract with municipal authorities and other parties.