Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC reduced its stake in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 83.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,077 shares of the company’s stock after selling 68,856 shares during the period. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $567,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,833,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $530,641,000 after acquiring an additional 241,176 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 33.4% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 6,335,695 shares of the company’s stock worth $243,023,000 after acquiring an additional 1,586,622 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,233,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $200,197,000 after acquiring an additional 120,947 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,539,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,163,000 after purchasing an additional 741,587 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,149,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,158,000 after purchasing an additional 662,334 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of WTRG opened at $39.88 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.95. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.10 and a 1 year high of $42.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.31 billion, a PE ratio of 20.25 and a beta of 0.65.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.07). Essential Utilities had a net margin of 21.82% and a return on equity of 8.34%. The business had revenue of $861.76 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $782.90 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be given a $0.3606 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. This is a boost from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is 69.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Friday, May 22nd. UBS Group upped their price target on Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Barclays raised their price target on Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Essential Utilities to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.80.

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.