Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Lowers Position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lowered its stake in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 241,041 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,837 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $8,755,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,811,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,134,000 after buying an additional 972,803 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,842,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 51.3% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,935,818 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,309,000 after acquiring an additional 656,136 shares during the last quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 42.6% in the fourth quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 2,043,011 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,202,000 after purchasing an additional 609,915 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Essential Utilities by 33.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 953,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,795,000 after purchasing an additional 237,096 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:WTRG opened at $39.14 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.76 billion, a PE ratio of 19.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.84. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.18 and a 1 year high of $41.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.39.

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

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be paid a $0.3255 dividend. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on WTRG shares. UBS Group lowered their price objective 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 upgraded 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, January 28th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Essential Utilities from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.50.

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.