Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG Stock Position Decreased by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada trimmed its stake in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 3.8% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 420,261 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,422 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $16,924,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WTRG. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,833,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $530,641,000 after purchasing an additional 241,176 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in Essential Utilities by 33.4% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 6,335,695 shares of the company’s stock worth $243,023,000 after purchasing an additional 1,586,622 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Essential Utilities by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,233,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $200,197,000 after buying an additional 120,947 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in Essential Utilities by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,539,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,163,000 after buying an additional 741,587 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Essential Utilities by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,149,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,158,000 after buying an additional 662,334 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essential Utilities Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE:WTRG opened at $39.85 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $38.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.33 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 1-year low of $36.10 and a 1-year high of $42.37.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $530.85 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $538.90 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.23% and a net margin of 21.60%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.38 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be given a dividend of $0.3606 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 11th. This is a boost from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is presently 69.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essential Utilities to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.00.

About Essential Utilities

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.