CenterBook Partners LP Has $1.84 Million Stock Holdings in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

CenterBook Partners LP lowered its stake in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 21.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 46,035 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,861 shares during the period. CenterBook Partners LP’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $1,837,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WTRG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Essential Utilities by 587.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,071,929 shares of the company’s stock valued at $162,472,000 after purchasing an additional 3,479,762 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $102,347,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 25.5% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,972,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $354,057,000 after buying an additional 1,822,306 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 1,572.4% in the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,271,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,212,000 after buying an additional 1,195,189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Essential Utilities by 2.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,246,084 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,246,719,000 after buying an additional 838,450 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

NYSE:WTRG opened at $39.10 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.96. The stock has a market cap of $11.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.22 and a beta of 0.81. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.35 and a 1-year high of $42.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.3426 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $1.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird cut shares of Essential Utilities from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $47.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Northcoast Research upgraded Essential Utilities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.29.

Essential Utilities 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.