New York Life Investment Management LLC Sells 3,939 Shares of Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

New York Life Investment Management LLC trimmed its stake in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 12.9% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 26,620 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,939 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $989,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of WTRG. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the 1st quarter worth about $1,507,000. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter valued at about $638,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Essential Utilities by 3.9% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 107,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,239,000 after purchasing an additional 4,015 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in Essential Utilities by 28.2% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 498,669 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,713,000 after purchasing an additional 109,582 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the first quarter valued at approximately $879,000. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of Essential Utilities stock opened at $39.05 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.95 billion, a PE ratio of 16.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.73. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.77. Essential Utilities Inc. has a one year low of $33.18 and a one year high of $42.37.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $514.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $462.70 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 27.62%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.28 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.3426 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays raised their price target on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Essential Utilities from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Janney Montgomery Scott cut shares of Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Baird R W lowered shares of Essential Utilities from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essential Utilities presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.57.

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.