Legal & General Group Plc Increases Stake in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,488,920 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 136,270 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 1.24% of Essential Utilities worth $129,578,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter worth about $638,000. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 28.2% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 498,669 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,713,000 after buying an additional 109,582 shares in the last quarter. Greenland Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 155.9% during the second quarter. Greenland Capital Management LP now owns 465,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,300,000 after buying an additional 283,790 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.3% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 543,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,201,000 after buying an additional 7,200 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities in the first quarter valued at approximately $879,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on WTRG. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Zacks Research raised Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Janney Montgomery Scott cut Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Baird R W cut Essential Utilities from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.57.

Essential Utilities Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE WTRG opened at $39.84 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $39.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.61. The company has a market capitalization of $11.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.84. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 12 month low of $33.18 and a 12 month high of $42.37.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $476.97 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $472.40 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 10.10%. Essential Utilities’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.25 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be given a $0.3426 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio 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.