J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 96.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,262 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,941 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $757,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTRG. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,168,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $932,698,000 after acquiring an additional 99,560 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,386,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,267,000 after acquiring an additional 24,991 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,918,202 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,182,000 after acquiring an additional 166,891 shares during the period. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,966,687 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,516,000 after acquiring an additional 67,465 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,768,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,715,000 after acquiring an additional 74,800 shares during the period. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $51.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essential Utilities news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 5,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.21, for a total transaction of $207,073.65. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 57,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,149,100.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of WTRG opened at $35.90 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s fifty day moving average is $35.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.69. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.07 and a 1 year high of $44.05.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $479.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $708.50 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 24.26% and a return on equity of 8.68%. Essential Utilities’s revenue was down 32.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.44 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 2 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of $0.3071 per share. This is a positive change from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.23 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is presently 66.13%.

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.