Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. Sells 879 Shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. decreased its position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 18.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,859 shares of the company’s stock after selling 879 shares during the period. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V.’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $140,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WTRG. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 99.2% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 54,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,114,000 after purchasing an additional 27,291 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Essential Utilities by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 997,399 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,796,000 after buying an additional 10,427 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Essential Utilities by 33.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 953,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,795,000 after acquiring an additional 237,096 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Essential Utilities by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,946 shares of the company’s stock valued at $180,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the period. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth $859,000. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WTRG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. UBS Group decreased their price target on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

WTRG stock opened at $41.18 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $38.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.92. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.18 and a fifty-two week high of $41.78. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $11.35 billion, a PE ratio of 20.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.80.

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

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be paid a $0.3255 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.16%. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is presently 59.91%.

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.