Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Trims Stock Position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lessened its stake in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG – Get Rating) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 90,418 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,943 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $4,315,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,987 shares of the company’s stock valued at $286,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the period. United Capital Financial Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. United Capital Financial Advisers LLC now owns 14,796 shares of the company’s stock valued at $757,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 12,352 shares of the company’s stock valued at $590,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 8,420 shares of the company’s stock valued at $348,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 33,408 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,594,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essential Utilities news, CEO Chris Franklin acquired 37,245 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $40.70 per share, for a total transaction of $1,515,871.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 37,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,515,871.50. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

NYSE:WTRG opened at $42.53 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.50 and a fifty-two week high of $52.42. The stock has a market cap of $11.24 billion, a PE ratio of 24.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.38.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 8th. The company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.02). Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.54% and a net margin of 19.75%. The business had revenue of $726.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $682.87 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. Essential Utilities’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 12th will be given a $0.287 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 11th. This represents a $1.15 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $54.00 price objective on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. UBS Group raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Monday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.38.

Essential Utilities Profile

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Essential Utilities, Inc is a holding company, which engages in providing water, wastewater and natural gas services through its subsidiaries. It operates through the Regulated Water and Regulated Natural Gas segments. The Regulated Water segment includes water and wastewater regulated utility companies.