Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Shares Acquired by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. grew its stake in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 8.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,397 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,249 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $1,540,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WTRG. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Essential Utilities by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,811,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,134,000 after acquiring an additional 972,803 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Essential Utilities during the third quarter worth about $30,842,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in Essential Utilities by 51.3% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,935,818 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,309,000 after acquiring an additional 656,136 shares during the last quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC boosted its position in Essential Utilities by 42.6% during the fourth quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 2,043,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,202,000 after acquiring an additional 609,915 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Essential Utilities by 33.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 953,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,795,000 after acquiring an additional 237,096 shares during the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WTRG. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of WTRG stock opened at $38.39 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $36.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.83. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $33.18 and a 12 month high of $41.78. The company has a market capitalization of $10.55 billion, a PE ratio of 19.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.79.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $604.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $698.77 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.89%. Analysts predict that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be paid a $0.3255 dividend. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.91%.

Essential Utilities 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.