Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Acquires 59,730 Shares of Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,202,525 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 59,730 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $87,881,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WTRG. Synergy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 351.4% in the third quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 234,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,057,000 after purchasing an additional 182,301 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Essential Utilities by 25.5% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,972,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $354,057,000 after purchasing an additional 1,822,306 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in Essential Utilities by 16.4% in the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 966,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,571,000 after purchasing an additional 135,899 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in Essential Utilities by 39.8% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 99,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,968,000 after buying an additional 28,329 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Essential Utilities by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,709,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,091,000 after buying an additional 29,904 shares during the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WTRG shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Northcoast Research raised Essential Utilities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Barclays set a $38.00 target price on Essential Utilities and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Essential Utilities presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.20.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

NYSE WTRG opened at $39.79 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $39.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.06. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.32 and a 1 year high of $42.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.01 and a beta of 0.82.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.11. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 24.91% and a return on equity of 9.18%. The firm had revenue of $699.11 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $611.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.67 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be paid a $0.3426 dividend. This represents a $1.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 12th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.99%.

Essential Utilities Profile

Essential Utilities, Inc, formerly known as Aqua America, is a publicly traded water and natural gas utility holding company. Through its regulated water and wastewater subsidiaries, the company provides essential water services to residential, commercial and industrial customers. In addition, Essential Utilities delivers natural gas distribution services in Pennsylvania through its Peoples Gas subsidiary, offering integrated utility solutions under a unified corporate framework.

The company traces its roots to the Philadelphia Suburban Water Company, founded in 1886 to serve growing communities outside Philadelphia.