California State Teachers Retirement System Lowers Stake in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Key Points

• California State Teachers Retirement System cut its Essential Utilities stake by 61% in the first quarter, selling 525,461 shares and retaining 336,533 shares valued at approximately $13.6 million. Institutional investors collectively own 74.78% of WTRG.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but leans positive, with the stock carrying a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $43.80. Recent targets range from $40 at Barclays, which rates the stock underweight, to $46 at UBS, which rates it a buy.
• Essential Utilities raised its quarterly dividend to $0.3606, equivalent to $1.44 annually and a 3.6% yield. Its latest quarterly revenue rose 10% year over year to $861.76 million, although earnings per share of $0.83 missed the $0.90 consensus estimate.

California State Teachers Retirement System reduced its position in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 61.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 336,533 shares of the company's stock after selling 525,461 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.12% of Essential Utilities worth $13,552,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WTRG. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ lifted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ now owns 83,188 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,191,000 after buying an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Essential Utilities by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 8,604 shares of the company's stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp boosted its stake in Essential Utilities by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 6,251 shares of the company's stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the period. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,881 shares of the company's stock valued at $460,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 4.4% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,153 shares of the company's stock worth $328,000 after buying an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Essential Utilities Trading Up 0.1%

WTRG opened at $39.88 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $38.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.89. Essential Utilities Inc. has a one year low of $36.10 and a one year high of $42.37. The stock has a market cap of $11.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.25 and a beta of 0.64.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 8.34% and a net margin of 21.82%.The business had revenue of $861.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $782.90 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

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

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.

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