SG Americas Securities LLC Sells 17,941 Shares of Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

SG Americas Securities LLC decreased its position in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 25.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 53,037 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,941 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $2,034,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 587.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,071,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $162,472,000 after buying an additional 3,479,762 shares in the last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the third quarter valued at approximately $128,137,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Essential Utilities by 25.5% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,972,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $354,057,000 after acquiring an additional 1,822,306 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Essential Utilities by 1,572.4% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,271,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,212,000 after acquiring an additional 1,195,189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Essential Utilities by 121.8% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,591,706 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,697,000 after acquiring an additional 873,990 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essential Utilities Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:WTRG opened at $41.03 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $11.62 billion, a PE ratio of 18.57 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.28. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.32 and a 12 month high of $42.37.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.11. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 9.18% and a net margin of 24.91%.The firm had revenue of $699.11 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $611.60 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.67 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.3426 per share. This represents a $1.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 12th. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is currently 61.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Barclays set a $38.00 target price on Essential Utilities and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Argus raised Essential Utilities to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.20.

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.