Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Has $72.20 Million Holdings in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 8.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,871,932 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 149,162 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $72,200,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTRG. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Essential Utilities in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Essential Utilities by 61.4% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 81.2% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,149 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WTRG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $44.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.00.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Essential Utilities stock opened at $40.28 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.84. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.57 and a 52-week high of $41.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.55. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.88.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $435.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $416.95 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.89%. Essential Utilities’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.30 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 2.01 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be given a $0.3255 dividend. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.00%.

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.