PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Decreases Holdings in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 1.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 184,046 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,314 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. owned about 0.07% of Essential Utilities worth $7,099,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Essential Utilities by 0.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,754,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $102,811,000 after purchasing an additional 9,822 shares in the last quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Essential Utilities by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,034,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,471,000 after acquiring an additional 10,560 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its position in Essential Utilities by 117.3% in the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,962,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,701,000 after acquiring an additional 1,059,320 shares during the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Essential Utilities by 5.6% in the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,585,475 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,152,000 after acquiring an additional 84,596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 18.6% during the second 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WTRG shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $44.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.00.

Essential Utilities Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE WTRG opened at $39.53 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $39.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.84. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 52 week low of $33.57 and a 52 week high of $41.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.84.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.25 EPS 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 business had revenue of $435.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.95 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.30 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 2.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $0.3255 per share. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.