Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Holdings Lifted by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 72,211 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,573 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $2,909,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WTRG. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 24.7% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 152,120 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,636,000 after acquiring an additional 30,152 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 12.1% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 139,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,171,000 after purchasing an additional 15,009 shares in the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter valued at about $46,280,000. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 350.3% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 903,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,723,000 after buying an additional 702,760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its holdings in Essential Utilities by 231.2% in the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 306,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,359,000 after buying an additional 214,031 shares during the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $44.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.00.

Essential Utilities Stock Up 1.5 %

WTRG stock opened at $39.67 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $39.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.44. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.28 and a 52-week high of $41.78.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $435.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $416.95 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.30 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be given a $0.3255 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is 65.00%.

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.