Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Shares Sold by Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. decreased its holdings in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 61.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,980 shares of the company’s stock after selling 37,263 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $835,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WTRG. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 972,803 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,842,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in Essential Utilities by 51.3% in 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 stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 42.6% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 609,915 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake 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 buying an additional 237,096 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

NYSE:WTRG opened at $38.39 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.20, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $36.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.84. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.18 and a fifty-two week high of $41.78.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.89%. The company had revenue of $604.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $698.77 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

About Essential Utilities

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.