Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Cuts Holdings in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lessened its stake in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 46.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,661,095 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,000,000 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $433,093,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SouthState Corp grew its stake in Essential Utilities by 834.7% in the 2nd quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 626 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 75.0% during the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its position in Essential Utilities by 101.8% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 686 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

NYSE WTRG opened at $37.68 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $10.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.63 and a beta of 0.81. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $39.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.59. Essential Utilities Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.18 and a fifty-two week high of $42.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $476.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $472.40 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 28.09% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th were paid a dividend of $0.3426 per share. This represents a $1.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 12th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on WTRG. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $47.00 to $44.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Northcoast Research raised Essential Utilities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 11th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.00.

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.