State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 11,735 Shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D decreased its holdings in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 118,974 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,735 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $4,444,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 235,841 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,096,000 after acquiring an additional 29,372 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its position in Essential Utilities by 94.0% in the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 81,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,808,000 after purchasing an additional 39,643 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 9.9% during the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 34,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,180,000 after purchasing an additional 3,104 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,583,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 0.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,168,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $932,698,000 after buying an additional 99,560 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $51.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.00.

Insider Activity at Essential Utilities

In related news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 5,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.21, for a total transaction of $207,073.65. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 57,756 shares in the company, valued at $2,149,100.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE WTRG traded down $0.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $36.09. 1,265,358 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,819,557. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.07 and a twelve month high of $43.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.40, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.82.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $479.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $708.50 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 24.26% and a return on equity of 8.68%. Essential Utilities’s quarterly revenue was down 32.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.44 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of $0.3071 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This is a boost from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.23 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is 65.59%.

Essential Utilities 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.