Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Sells 12,157 Shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lowered its stake in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 8.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 127,707 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,157 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $4,638,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

NYSE WTRG opened at $35.20 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $9.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.60, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50 day moving average of $36.96 and a 200-day moving average of $38.53. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.18 and a 1-year high of $41.78.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.89%. The company had revenue of $435.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.95 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.3255 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.70%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WTRG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective 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. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Essential Utilities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $43.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.00.

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.