Toth Financial Advisory Corp Purchases 22,560 Shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Toth Financial Advisory Corp grew its position in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 44.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 73,394 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 22,560 shares during the quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $2,831,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in Essential Utilities during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Essential Utilities by 857.5% in the first quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 699 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the second quarter worth $37,000. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the first quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the first quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on WTRG. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Essential Utilities in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $44.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.80.

Essential Utilities Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of Essential Utilities stock traded down $0.24 during trading on Monday, hitting $40.31. 172,116 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,530,803. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $39.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.32. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.42 and a 1-year high of $41.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $434.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $442.76 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.16% and a net margin of 28.74%. The business’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.34 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.3255 per share. This is an increase from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.41%.

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.