New York State Teachers Retirement System Boosts Stake in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 296,631 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,913 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $11,379,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pekao Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych S.A. purchased a new position in Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth about $3,547,000. Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in Essential Utilities by 39.8% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 99,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,968,000 after purchasing an additional 28,329 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Essential Utilities by 25.5% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,972,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $354,057,000 after purchasing an additional 1,822,306 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Essential Utilities by 16.4% during the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 966,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,571,000 after purchasing an additional 135,899 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Essential Utilities by 1.1% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,709,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,091,000 after purchasing an additional 29,904 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essential Utilities Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of WTRG opened at $37.93 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $40.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.38. Essential Utilities Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.32 and a twelve month high of $42.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.16 and a beta of 0.67.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.11. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 24.91% and a return on equity of 9.18%. The company had revenue of $699.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $611.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.67 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.3426 per share. This represents a $1.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 12th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Argus raised shares of Essential Utilities to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.20.

Essential Utilities Profile

Essential Utilities, Inc, formerly known as Aqua America, is a publicly traded water and natural gas utility holding company. Through its regulated water and wastewater subsidiaries, the company provides essential water services to residential, commercial and industrial customers. In addition, Essential Utilities delivers natural gas distribution services in Pennsylvania through its Peoples Gas subsidiary, offering integrated utility solutions under a unified corporate framework.

The company traces its roots to the Philadelphia Suburban Water Company, founded in 1886 to serve growing communities outside Philadelphia.