Wills Financial Group Inc. Purchases 1,264 Shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Wills Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 0.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 161,045 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,264 shares during the period. Essential Utilities comprises about 2.6% of Wills Financial Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Wills Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.06% of Essential Utilities worth $6,211,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Essential Utilities by 1.8% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 14,243 shares of the company’s stock worth $549,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 61.4% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 773 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Essential Utilities by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,947 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,000 after buying an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp grew its position in Essential Utilities by 21.7% in the third quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 1,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its stake in Essential Utilities by 10.6% during the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 3,477 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WTRG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $44.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 boosted their target price on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.00.

Essential Utilities Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE:WTRG opened at $39.31 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $39.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.89. The company has a market cap of $10.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.85. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.57 and a 52-week high of $41.78. 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 (NYSE:WTRG) last issued 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 business had revenue of $435.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.95 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 27.84%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 2.01 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th were paid a dividend of $0.3255 per share. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.00%.

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.