Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co Has $751,000 Position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co decreased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 9.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,672 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,233 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $751,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WTRG. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV raised its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 6,342 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 70,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,546,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 19,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $709,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 9,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on WTRG. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of WTRG stock opened at $39.30 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market cap of $10.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.79. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 52 week low of $33.18 and a 52 week high of $41.78. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.80.

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

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a $0.3255 dividend. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.91%.

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.