Jane Street Group LLC Sells 107,798 Shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Jane Street Group LLC lowered its holdings in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 64.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 59,825 shares of the company’s stock after selling 107,798 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $2,173,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WTRG. Norges Bank bought a new position in Essential Utilities in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $102,600,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Essential Utilities by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,061,135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,091,820,000 after purchasing an additional 2,245,256 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in Essential Utilities by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 6,726,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $244,296,000 after purchasing an additional 1,597,672 shares during the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. bought a new position in Essential Utilities in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $52,355,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in Essential Utilities by 51.3% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,935,818 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,309,000 after purchasing an additional 656,136 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WTRG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 1.9%

WTRG opened at $38.88 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market cap of $10.71 billion, a PE ratio of 19.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a fifty day moving average of $39.47 and a 200-day moving average of $38.00. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.18 and a twelve month high of $41.78.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $783.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $713.80 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.89%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be paid a $0.3255 dividend. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.30%.

About Essential Utilities

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.