Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG Shares Purchased by Greenland Capital Management LP

Greenland Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 155.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 465,810 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 283,790 shares during the period. Essential Utilities comprises 1.8% of Greenland Capital Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Greenland Capital Management LP owned approximately 0.17% of Essential Utilities worth $17,300,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities during the first quarter worth $94,251,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,407,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,129,340,000 after acquiring an additional 693,988 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,526,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Essential Utilities by 122.7% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 943,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,308,000 after acquiring an additional 519,933 shares during the period. Finally, Beck Bode LLC acquired a new position in Essential Utilities in the second quarter worth about $18,087,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Essential Utilities from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Baird R W downgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 target price (down from $46.00) on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.57.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of WTRG opened at $39.16 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $39.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.81, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.84. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 52 week low of $33.18 and a 52 week high of $42.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.73.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $476.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $472.40 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 27.62%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be paid a $0.3426 dividend. This represents a $1.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 12th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.85%.

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.