Quest Partners LLC Invests $630,000 in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 16,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $630,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTRG. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the 1st quarter valued at about $46,280,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Essential Utilities by 4,309.4% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its holdings in Essential Utilities by 117.3% during the 3rd 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 period. Energy Income Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter valued at $26,917,000. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the 2nd quarter valued at $11,853,000. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of WTRG opened at $39.55 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.84. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.57 and a 52-week high of $41.78. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $10.86 billion, a PE ratio of 19.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.84.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $435.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $416.95 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.30 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 2.01 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a $0.3255 dividend. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is 65.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on WTRG. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective 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 lowered their target price for the company from $44.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essential Utilities currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.