2 weeks Ago By ABMN Staff
American Century Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities, Inc. ( NYSE:WTRG – Free Report ) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
The fund acquired 121,561 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,415,000. Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000.
IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 75.0% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares in the last quarter.
Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at about $60,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter worth about $90,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 3rd quarter worth about $150,000.
74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Analysts Set New Price Targets Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company.
StockNews.com upgraded Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group raised Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $41.
00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.
00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $39.00 to $41.
00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped 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, March 5th. Two research 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 company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.
50. Essential Utilities Stock Performance Shares of Essential Utilities stock opened at $39.62 on Friday.
The business’s 50 day moving average price is $37.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.83.
The company has a market cap of $10.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.81, a PEG ratio of 2.
57 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.
17, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.55.
Essential Utilities, Inc. has a one year low of $33.18 and a one year high of $41.
78. Essential Utilities ( NYSE:WTRG – Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.
67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.01.
The business had revenue of $604.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $698.77 million.
Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 27.84%.
On average, research analysts predict that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.
Essential Utilities Announces Dividend The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a $0.3255 dividend.
The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.
29%. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is 59.91%.
Essential Utilities Company Profile ( Free Report ) 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.
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