EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC Increases Position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC increased its stake in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 15.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,052 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the period. EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $426,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WTRG. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 0.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,754,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,811,000 after buying an additional 9,822 shares in the last quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Essential Utilities by 0.5% during the third quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,034,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,471,000 after buying an additional 10,560 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 117.3% in the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,962,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,701,000 after acquiring an additional 1,059,320 shares during the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Essential Utilities by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,585,475 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,152,000 after purchasing an additional 84,596 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 18.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,500,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,002,000 after purchasing an additional 234,857 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of WTRG traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $38.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 42,686 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,518,511. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $10.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.48, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.84. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.57 and a fifty-two week high of $41.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $39.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.83.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $435.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.95 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.89%. The company’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.30 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 2.01 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WTRG. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $44.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. 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 research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.00.

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.