Aberdeen Group plc Raises Position in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Aberdeen Group plc increased its position in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 185,171 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,087 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc owned 0.07% of Essential Utilities worth $7,244,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WTRG. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter worth approximately $638,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Essential Utilities by 7.8% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 12,861 shares of the company’s stock worth $508,000 after buying an additional 928 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 1.8% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 29,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,173,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Essential Utilities by 122.7% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 943,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,308,000 after buying an additional 519,933 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 22,322 shares of the company’s stock worth $882,000 after purchasing an additional 1,044 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE WTRG opened at $38.65 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.96. The firm has a market cap of $10.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.04 and a beta of 0.81. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.96 and a 52-week high of $42.37.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be given a $0.3426 dividend. This represents a $1.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 12th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is 56.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WTRG shares. Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Northcoast Research raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. UBS Group reissued 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.29.

About Essential Utilities

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.