Advisors Asset Management Inc. Decreases Position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 27.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,544 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,337 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $754,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Essential Utilities by 12.1% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 139,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,171,000 after purchasing an additional 15,009 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 350.3% in the second quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 903,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,723,000 after acquiring an additional 702,760 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in Essential Utilities by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 881,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,912,000 after purchasing an additional 21,804 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Essential Utilities by 18.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,500,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,002,000 after purchasing an additional 234,857 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the 2nd quarter worth about $482,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on 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, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $44.00 to $41.00 in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.00.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 0.2 %

WTRG stock opened at $40.05 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $39.06 and a 200 day moving average of $38.86. The firm has a market cap of $11.00 billion, a PE ratio of 20.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.84. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.57 and a twelve month high of $41.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $435.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $416.95 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 27.84%. The company’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.30 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.3255 per share. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is 65.00%.

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.