Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC Cuts Holdings in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC lowered its stake in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 83.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,077 shares of the company’s stock after selling 68,856 shares during the period. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $567,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac purchased a new position in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new position in Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essential Utilities to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Barclays increased their target price on Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.80.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

WTRG stock opened at $39.88 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $38.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market cap of $11.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.25 and a beta of 0.65. Essential Utilities Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.10 and a fifty-two week high of $42.37.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.07). Essential Utilities had a net margin of 21.82% and a return on equity of 8.34%. The company had revenue of $861.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $782.90 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be given a $0.3606 dividend. This is a positive change from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is 69.54%.

Essential Utilities Company Profile

Essential Utilities, Inc, formerly known as Aqua America, is a publicly traded water and natural gas utility holding company. Through its regulated water and wastewater subsidiaries, the company provides essential water services to residential, commercial and industrial customers. In addition, Essential Utilities delivers natural gas distribution services in Pennsylvania through its Peoples Gas subsidiary, offering integrated utility solutions under a unified corporate framework.

The company traces its roots to the Philadelphia Suburban Water Company, founded in 1886 to serve growing communities outside Philadelphia.