Wealthspire Advisors LLC Acquires 645 Shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,995 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 645 shares during the quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $581,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 51.3% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,935,818 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,309,000 after purchasing an additional 656,136 shares during the period. Northcape Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter worth approximately $489,000. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter worth approximately $504,000. Empower Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,660,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,293,000 after purchasing an additional 74,563 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 6,305.9% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 187,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,291,000 after purchasing an additional 184,258 shares during the period. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Essential Utilities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $43.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price 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. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.00.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Essential Utilities stock opened at $37.54 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $10.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.77, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $35.54 and its 200 day moving average is $37.86. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.18 and a 52-week high of $41.78.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $604.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $698.77 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.89%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.3255 per share. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is 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.