New York State Teachers Retirement System Cuts Stock Holdings in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

New York State Teachers Retirement System decreased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 283,791 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,000 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $10,307,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WTRG. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in Essential Utilities by 4,309.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,255,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,424,000 after purchasing an additional 1,227,010 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 117.3% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,962,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,701,000 after acquiring an additional 1,059,320 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 16.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,811,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,134,000 after acquiring an additional 972,803 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,842,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 33.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 953,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,795,000 after acquiring an additional 237,096 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WTRG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Essential Utilities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $43.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded 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 note on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.00.

Essential Utilities Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE:WTRG opened at $35.66 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $9.79 billion, a PE ratio of 17.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.86. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.18 and a twelve month high of $41.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The company’s 50 day moving average is $35.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.02.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.3255 per share. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.00%.

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.