Coastline Trust Co Makes New $65,000 Investment in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 1,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Essential Utilities by 13.9% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 7,297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 889 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 13.3% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,016 shares of the company’s stock valued at $445,000 after purchasing an additional 1,407 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 275,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,204,000 after buying an additional 7,102 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 24.7% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 152,120 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,636,000 after buying an additional 30,152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Essential Utilities by 28.8% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 17,932 shares of the company’s stock worth $664,000 after buying an additional 4,009 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Essential Utilities Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE WTRG opened at $38.60 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $39.03 and its 200 day moving average is $38.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.60 billion, a PE ratio of 19.30, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.84. 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 1 year low of $33.57 and a 1 year high of $41.78.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $435.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.95 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 27.84%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 2.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be given a $0.3255 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is 65.00%.

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.