Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes $2.64 Million Position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 70,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,637,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 604.0% in the 4th quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 711 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the first quarter valued at about $38,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 4,210.0% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 862 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 842 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 112.6% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 863 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 457 shares during the period. Finally, PSI Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 2.0 %

Essential Utilities stock traded down $0.68 on Tuesday, hitting $33.88. 1,526,779 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,791,905. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $35.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.63. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.07 and a 1 year high of $44.05. The firm has a market cap of $9.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.82. 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 (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.68% and a net margin of 24.26%. The company had revenue of $479.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $708.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.44 earnings per share. Essential Utilities's revenue was down 32.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 2 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $0.3071 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This is a boost from Essential Utilities's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.63%. Essential Utilities's dividend payout ratio is 66.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $51.00 to $42.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essential Utilities presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.00.

Insider Activity

In other Essential Utilities news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 5,565 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.21, for a total transaction of $207,073.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 57,756 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,149,100.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Essential Utilities Company 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.