Crews Bank & Trust Invests $90,000 in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $90,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 4,309.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,255,483 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,424,000 after buying an additional 1,227,010 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its stake 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 worth $75,701,000 after acquiring an additional 1,059,320 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Essential Utilities by 16.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,811,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,134,000 after purchasing an additional 972,803 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Essential Utilities during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,842,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Essential Utilities by 33.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 953,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,795,000 after purchasing an additional 237,096 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WTRG opened at $35.46 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.18 and a twelve month high of $41.78. The firm has a market cap of $9.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.73, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50 day moving average of $36.80 and a 200 day moving average of $38.49.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.89%. The business had revenue of $435.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $416.95 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.3255 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.67%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTRG has been the topic of several research reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on 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 cut their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Essential Utilities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $43.00 to $39.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.00.

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.