Congress Wealth Management LLC DE Acquires New Position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Congress Wealth Management LLC DE bought a new position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 8,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $291,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Essential Utilities by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,061,135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,091,820,000 after buying an additional 2,245,256 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 288,469 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,477,000 after acquiring an additional 10,941 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,143,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Essential Utilities by 163.2% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 172,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,253,000 after purchasing an additional 106,735 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. purchased a new position in Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,415,000. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Essential Utilities Price Performance

WTRG stock opened at $39.30 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $10.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.55. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.18 and a 1 year high of $41.78. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.81.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.89%. The company had revenue of $604.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $698.77 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio 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.