Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Shares Sold by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 13.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,614 shares of the company’s stock after selling 745 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $178,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WTRG. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 49.7% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 3,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,992,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,045,504,000 after acquiring an additional 823,495 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 196,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,353,000 after acquiring an additional 6,105 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its holdings in Essential Utilities by 6.4% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 10,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $393,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its holdings in Essential Utilities by 112.8% during the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,513 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Essential Utilities in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $44.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.80.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE:WTRG opened at $39.17 on Friday. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.42 and a 52-week high of $41.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.16. The company has a market capitalization of $10.72 billion, a PE ratio of 19.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.84.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.02). Essential Utilities had a net margin of 28.74% and a return on equity of 8.16%. The business had revenue of $434.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $442.76 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.3255 per share. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This is a boost from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is 63.41%.

Essential Utilities 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.