CX Institutional Increases Position in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

CX Institutional grew its position in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 1,261.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,462 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,400 shares during the quarter. CX Institutional’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $577,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. American National Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities in the third quarter valued at $27,000. SouthState Corp increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 834.7% in the 2nd quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 626 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 141.2% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 1,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 710 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC lifted its stake in Essential Utilities by 39.2% during the second quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 2,022 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTRG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Essential Utilities and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 11th. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 target price (down previously from $46.00) on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Baird R W cut Essential Utilities from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.29.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

NYSE WTRG opened at $38.32 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $10.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.90 and a beta of 0.81. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.18 and a 52-week high of $42.37. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $38.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $476.97 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $472.40 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 28.09%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.25 EPS. On average, equities research 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 12th were issued a dividend of $0.3426 per share. This represents a $1.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 12th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.85%.

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.