Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Acquires 356 Shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 38,652 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 356 shares during the quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $1,404,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WTRG. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in Essential Utilities by 31.3% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 240,233 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,725,000 after purchasing an additional 57,291 shares during the last quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 33.0% during the fourth quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 282,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,244,000 after acquiring an additional 69,928 shares during the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 67,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,461,000 after acquiring an additional 2,393 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter valued at $1,621,000. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 51,374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,866,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on WTRG. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WTRG opened at $39.81 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.39. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.18 and a fifty-two week high of $41.78.

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

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be paid a $0.3255 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is 59.91%.

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.