Focus Partners Wealth Buys 1,646 Shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,278 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,646 shares during the quarter. Focus Partners Wealth’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $773,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $102,600,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 2,245,256 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in Essential Utilities by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 6,726,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $244,296,000 after buying an additional 1,597,672 shares in the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. acquired a new position in Essential Utilities in the 4th quarter valued at $52,355,000. Finally, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 74.6% during the 4th quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 1,593,053 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,860,000 after purchasing an additional 680,760 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Essential Utilities from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Essential Utilities from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

WTRG opened at $38.88 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $39.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.99. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.18 and a 12-month high of $41.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.44, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.85.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $783.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $713.80 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 27.84%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.97 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.3255 per share. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is 58.30%.

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.