Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG Holdings Lowered by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lowered its stake in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 27.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 101,022 shares of the company’s stock after selling 38,462 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $4,031,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the second quarter worth approximately $102,347,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Essential Utilities by 25.5% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,972,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $354,057,000 after purchasing an additional 1,822,306 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Essential Utilities by 1,572.4% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,271,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,212,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195,189 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Essential Utilities by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,407,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,129,340,000 after purchasing an additional 693,988 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 851.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 717,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,541,000 after purchasing an additional 642,277 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WTRG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 target price (down previously from $46.00) on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 11th. Barclays set a $38.00 price target on shares of Essential Utilities and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.29.

Essential Utilities Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE:WTRG opened at $37.46 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $38.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.88. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.58 and a 52 week high of $42.37. The company has a market capitalization of $10.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.54 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.60.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th will be issued a $0.3426 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. This represents a $1.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.85%.

About Essential Utilities

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.