Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co Reduces Stock Position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co cut its stake in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 9.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 20,672 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,233 shares during the quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $751,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Essential Utilities by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,061,135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,091,820,000 after buying an additional 2,245,256 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,811,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,134,000 after acquiring an additional 972,803 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Essential Utilities during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,842,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in Essential Utilities by 51.3% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,935,818 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,309,000 after acquiring an additional 656,136 shares during the period. Finally, Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC lifted its stake in Essential Utilities by 42.6% in the 4th quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 2,043,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,202,000 after purchasing an additional 609,915 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WTRG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Essential Utilities from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE WTRG opened at $39.30 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.80. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.18 and a twelve month high of $41.78. The company has a market capitalization of $10.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.65, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.79.

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

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a $0.3255 dividend. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is 59.91%.

Essential Utilities Company 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.