Cwm LLC Purchases 24,465 Shares of Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Cwm LLC grew its position in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 156.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,152 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 24,465 shares during the quarter. Cwm LLC’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $1,602,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Essential Utilities by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,407,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,129,340,000 after acquiring an additional 693,988 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake in Essential Utilities by 2.7% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 5,637,022 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,997,000 after purchasing an additional 146,960 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 3.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,734,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $175,313,000 after purchasing an additional 173,319 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 4.1% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,488,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,578,000 after buying an additional 136,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the second quarter valued at about $102,347,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE:WTRG opened at $38.68 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.18 and a 1-year high of $42.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.05 and a beta of 0.81. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $38.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.64.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.06. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 28.09%.The company had revenue of $476.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $472.40 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.25 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th were issued a $0.3426 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is 56.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on WTRG. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Northcoast Research raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (down previously from $46.00) on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Wall Street Zen raised Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.29.

Essential Utilities Profile

Essential Utilities, Inc, formerly known as Aqua America, is a publicly traded water and natural gas utility holding company. Through its regulated water and wastewater subsidiaries, the company provides essential water services to residential, commercial and industrial customers. In addition, Essential Utilities delivers natural gas distribution services in Pennsylvania through its Peoples Gas subsidiary, offering integrated utility solutions under a unified corporate framework.

The company traces its roots to the Philadelphia Suburban Water Company, founded in 1886 to serve growing communities outside Philadelphia.