Ingalls & Snyder LLC Lowers Stake in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Ingalls & Snyder LLC lowered its position in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,463 shares of the company’s stock after selling 425 shares during the quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $453,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WTRG. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 4,309.4% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,255,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,424,000 after purchasing an additional 1,227,010 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 117.3% during the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,962,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,701,000 after buying an additional 1,059,320 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,811,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,134,000 after buying an additional 972,803 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,842,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 33.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 953,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,795,000 after buying an additional 237,096 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Essential Utilities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $43.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essential Utilities currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.00.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of WTRG opened at $35.84 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $35.99 and its 200 day moving average is $38.15. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.18 and a fifty-two week high of $41.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.84 billion, a PE ratio of 17.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.86. 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 Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a $0.3255 dividend. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.