MQS Management LLC Makes New $296,000 Investment in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 7,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $296,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,754,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $102,811,000 after buying an additional 9,822 shares in the last quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 0.5% in the third quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,034,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,471,000 after acquiring an additional 10,560 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 117.3% in the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,962,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,701,000 after purchasing an additional 1,059,320 shares during the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Essential Utilities by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,585,475 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,152,000 after purchasing an additional 84,596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Essential Utilities by 18.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,500,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,002,000 after purchasing an additional 234,857 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on WTRG. Jefferies Financial Group cut Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $44.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.00.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of Essential Utilities stock opened at $38.26 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.13, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.84. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.57 and a twelve month high of $41.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.78.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $435.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $416.95 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.89%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.30 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 2.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.3255 per share. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is currently 65.00%.

Essential Utilities Company 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.