Red Door Wealth Management LLC Invests $491,000 in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Red Door Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 13,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $491,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WTRG. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Essential Utilities during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Essential Utilities in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 61.4% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 773 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTRG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $44.00 to $41.00 in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Essential Utilities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $43.00 to $39.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.00.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WTRG opened at $33.56 on Friday. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.18 and a 12-month high of $41.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.86. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $37.29 and a 200 day moving average of $38.64.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.89%. The firm had revenue of $435.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $416.95 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.30 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.3255 dividend. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.00%.

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.