Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Has $1.45 Million Holdings in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd lifted its stake in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 181.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,959 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,841 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $1,446,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities in the 2nd quarter worth $102,347,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,822,306 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Essential Utilities by 1,572.4% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,271,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,212,000 after buying an additional 1,195,189 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Essential Utilities by 2.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,407,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,129,340,000 after acquiring an additional 693,988 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Essential Utilities by 851.4% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 717,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,541,000 after acquiring an additional 642,277 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on WTRG. Wall Street Zen upgraded Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 11th. Barclays set a $38.00 price target on shares of Essential Utilities and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Janney Montgomery Scott lowered shares of Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Northcoast Research raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.29.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:WTRG opened at $37.85 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $38.65 and its 200-day moving average is $38.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.60. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.58 and a 52 week high of $42.37. The company has a market capitalization of $10.71 billion, a PE ratio of 15.71 and a beta of 0.81.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $476.97 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $472.40 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 28.09% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.25 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.3426 per share. This represents a $1.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 9th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.85%.

Essential Utilities Company 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.