Fulton Bank N.A. Buys Shares of 7,931 Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Fulton Bank N.A. bought a new stake in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 7,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $288,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of WTRG. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 4,309.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,255,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,424,000 after purchasing an additional 1,227,010 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 117.3% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,962,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,701,000 after purchasing an additional 1,059,320 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,811,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,134,000 after purchasing an additional 972,803 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,842,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 33.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 953,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,795,000 after purchasing an additional 237,096 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of WTRG opened at $34.11 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.37 billion, a PE ratio of 17.06, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.86. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $33.57 and a 12 month high of $41.78. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $38.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.78. 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 earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 27.84%. The firm had revenue of $435.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $416.95 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.30 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on WTRG. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Essential Utilities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $43.00 to $39.00 in a report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $44.00 to $41.00 in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.