Quantinno Capital Management LP Has $469,000 Holdings in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 19.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,156 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,014 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $469,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTRG. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.8% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 14,243 shares of the company’s stock valued at $549,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 61.4% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 773 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 21.7% in the 3rd quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 1,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 10.6% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 3,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 4.4% during the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 8,024 shares of the company’s stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on WTRG. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $44.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.00.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WTRG opened at $38.69 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $10.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.57 and a 1-year high of $41.78.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 27.84%. The company had revenue of $435.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.95 million. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.30 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 2.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th 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 3.37%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is currently 65.00%.

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.