Prudential PLC Has $3.18 Million Stake in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Prudential PLC lessened its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 21.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 87,640 shares of the company’s stock after selling 23,836 shares during the period. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $3,183,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in Essential Utilities by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 24,652 shares of the company’s stock worth $895,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 6,342 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its stake in Essential Utilities by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 70,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,546,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its position in Essential Utilities by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 19,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $709,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Essential Utilities by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,946 shares of the company’s stock worth $180,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WTRG shares. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Essential Utilities from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com upgraded Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Trading Down 2.5 %

NYSE WTRG opened at $39.62 on Friday. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.18 and a twelve month high of $41.78. The business’s fifty day moving average is $37.56 and its 200 day moving average is $37.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The company has a market cap of $10.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.80.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 27.84%. The company had revenue of $604.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $698.77 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a $0.3255 dividend. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.91%.

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.