Guggenheim Capital LLC Sells 2,002 Shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Guggenheim Capital LLC lowered its stake in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,514 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,002 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $2,089,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WTRG. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth $102,600,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Essential Utilities by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,061,135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,091,820,000 after purchasing an additional 2,245,256 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in Essential Utilities by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 6,726,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $244,296,000 after purchasing an additional 1,597,672 shares during the period. Cohen & Steers Inc. bought a new position in Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth about $52,355,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Essential Utilities by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,811,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,134,000 after buying an additional 972,803 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group reduced their target price on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE WTRG opened at $40.50 on Monday. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.18 and a 1 year high of $41.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market cap of $11.16 billion, a PE ratio of 20.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.88.

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

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.91%.

About Essential Utilities

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.