Quarry LP Purchases Shares of 3,882 Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 3,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $150,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 4,309.4% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,255,483 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,424,000 after buying an additional 1,227,010 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 117.3% during the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,962,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,701,000 after buying an additional 1,059,320 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities during the third quarter worth $30,842,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 18.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,500,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,002,000 after buying an additional 234,857 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 8.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,871,932 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,200,000 after buying an additional 149,162 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WTRG. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $44.00 to $41.00 in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Friday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essential Utilities presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.00.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

WTRG opened at $38.94 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.89. The company has a market cap of $10.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.47, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.57 and a 52-week high of $41.78.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $435.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $416.95 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.89%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.30 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were given a $0.3255 dividend. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.00%.

Essential Utilities Company Profile

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.