Wills Financial Group LLC Takes Position in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Wills Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 155,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,139,000. Essential Utilities accounts for 2.7% of Wills Financial Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Essential Utilities by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,317,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,526,000 after purchasing an additional 11,336 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Essential Utilities by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,690,116 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,025,000 after purchasing an additional 236,250 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Essential Utilities by 22.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,331,090 shares of the company’s stock worth $120,985,000 after purchasing an additional 601,026 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its stake in Essential Utilities by 16.5% in the 1st quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 2,476,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,908,000 after buying an additional 349,904 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Essential Utilities by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,346,671 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,231,000 after buying an additional 192,456 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WTRG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Essential Utilities from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 3.9%

Shares of Essential Utilities stock opened at $38.22 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $10.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.40, a PEG ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $37.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. Essential Utilities Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.18 and a twelve month high of $41.78.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $514.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $462.70 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 27.62%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.28 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be given a dividend of $0.3426 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 12th. This is a positive change from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.30%.

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.