Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Purchases 9,116 Shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 143,452 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,116 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. owned 0.05% of Essential Utilities worth $5,210,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 81.2% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,149 shares of the company's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the third quarter valued at approximately $187,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 510,053 shares of the company's stock worth $19,673,000 after purchasing an additional 29,461 shares during the last quarter. MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in Essential Utilities in the 3rd quarter valued at $296,000. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Essential Utilities by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 11,145 shares of the company's stock worth $430,000 after buying an additional 737 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WTRG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Essential Utilities from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $41.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.50.

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Essential Utilities Price Performance

WTRG traded down $0.57 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $39.14. 1,166,194 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,363,878. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $36.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.39. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.18 and a twelve month high of $41.78. The company has a market cap of $10.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.57, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.79.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $604.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $698.77 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 27.84%. Equities research analysts forecast that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.3255 per share. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. Essential Utilities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.91%.

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.