First Affirmative Financial Network Increases Stock Position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

First Affirmative Financial Network lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,994 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the period. First Affirmative Financial Network’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $363,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in WTRG. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 4,309.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,255,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,424,000 after acquiring an additional 1,227,010 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its position in Essential Utilities by 117.3% in the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,962,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,701,000 after purchasing an additional 1,059,320 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,811,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,134,000 after purchasing an additional 972,803 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the third quarter worth about $30,842,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 33.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 953,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,795,000 after buying an additional 237,096 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on WTRG shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered Essential Utilities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $43.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.00.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

WTRG stock opened at $35.20 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.53. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.18 and a 12-month high of $41.78. The firm has a market cap of $9.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.60, a P/E/G 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.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.89%. The business had revenue of $435.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.95 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.30 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.3255 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.70%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio 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.