GAMMA Investing LLC Increases Position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,946 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $180,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Caprock Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 8,785 shares of the company’s stock worth $328,000 after acquiring an additional 670 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC boosted its position in Essential Utilities by 14.7% during the second quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 104,893 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,916,000 after purchasing an additional 13,412 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC grew its holdings in Essential Utilities by 57.9% in the second quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 15,457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $574,000 after purchasing an additional 5,666 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 12.2% in the second quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 19,773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $738,000 after buying an additional 2,144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 2nd quarter worth $316,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

NYSE:WTRG opened at $35.00 on Thursday. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.57 and a 12-month high of $41.78. The firm has a market cap of $9.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.86. The company’s 50-day moving average is $38.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

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

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a $0.3255 dividend. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on WTRG. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Robert W. Baird increased 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, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Essential Utilities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $43.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $44.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.20.

Essential Utilities Company Profile

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.