Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Buys 6,823 Shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 139,864 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,823 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC owned 0.05% of Essential Utilities worth $5,395,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WTRG. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,754,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,811,000 after purchasing an additional 9,822 shares during the period. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 0.7% in the second quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,023,937 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,554,000 after buying an additional 13,557 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its position in Essential Utilities by 117.3% during the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,962,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,701,000 after buying an additional 1,059,320 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Essential Utilities by 18.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,500,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,002,000 after acquiring an additional 234,857 shares during the period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Essential Utilities by 4,309.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,255,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,424,000 after acquiring an additional 1,227,010 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

WTRG stock opened at $39.67 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $10.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.84, a P/E/G 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. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.70. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.28 and a 1 year 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, topping 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 company had revenue of $435.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $416.95 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.