Janus Henderson Group PLC Boosts Holdings in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 829.7% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 125,200 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 111,734 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $5,042,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter worth about $638,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Essential Utilities by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 12,861 shares of the company’s stock worth $508,000 after buying an additional 928 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Essential Utilities by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 29,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,173,000 after buying an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 122.7% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 4.9% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 22,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $882,000 after acquiring an additional 1,044 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 0.6%

WTRG opened at $39.85 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.33 and a beta of 0.64. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.88. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 1-year low of $36.10 and a 1-year high of $42.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.23% and a net margin of 21.60%.The business had revenue of $530.85 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.90 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be issued a $0.3606 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 11th. This is an increase from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Barclays increased their price objective on Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Essential Utilities to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.00.

Essential Utilities Company Profile

Essential Utilities, Inc, formerly known as Aqua America, is a publicly traded water and natural gas utility holding company. Through its regulated water and wastewater subsidiaries, the company provides essential water services to residential, commercial and industrial customers. In addition, Essential Utilities delivers natural gas distribution services in Pennsylvania through its Peoples Gas subsidiary, offering integrated utility solutions under a unified corporate framework.

The company traces its roots to the Philadelphia Suburban Water Company, founded in 1886 to serve growing communities outside Philadelphia.