Costello Asset Management INC Reduces Holdings in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Costello Asset Management INC lowered its stake in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 101,365 shares of the company’s stock after selling 525 shares during the period. Essential Utilities comprises about 2.6% of Costello Asset Management INC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Costello Asset Management INC’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $3,910,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WTRG. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Essential Utilities during the first quarter valued at $46,280,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,227,010 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,059,320 shares in the last quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities in the first quarter worth about $26,917,000. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the second quarter valued at approximately $11,853,000. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WTRG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $44.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.00.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

NYSE WTRG opened at $39.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.55. The company has a market capitalization of $10.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.84, a PEG ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $39.06 and a 200 day moving average of $38.70. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a one year low of $33.28 and a one year high of $41.78.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $435.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $416.95 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.30 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a $0.3255 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.00%.

Essential Utilities 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.