State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Reduces Stock Position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D decreased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 21.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 78,017 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21,843 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $2,912,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 24.7% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 152,120 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,636,000 after purchasing an additional 30,152 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Essential Utilities by 12.1% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 139,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,171,000 after purchasing an additional 15,009 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Essential Utilities by 17,553.7% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,425,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,156,000 after purchasing an additional 3,405,947 shares in the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Essential Utilities during the first quarter valued at $46,280,000. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its stake in Essential Utilities by 350.3% during the second quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 903,372 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,723,000 after acquiring an additional 702,760 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:WTRG opened at $38.74 on Thursday. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.07 and a 1 year high of $41.78. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $39.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.88. The company has a market cap of $10.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.36, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.02). Essential Utilities had a net margin of 28.74% and a return on equity of 8.16%. The company had revenue of $434.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $442.76 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.34 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.3255 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This is a positive change from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is currently 61.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WTRG. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.40.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 2,342 shares of Essential Utilities stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.43, for a total value of $87,661.06. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 53,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,998,425.13. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

About Essential Utilities

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.