Barclays PLC Grows Stake in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 25.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 442,767 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 90,746 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned about 0.16% of Essential Utilities worth $16,080,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Seeds Investor LLC raised its position in Essential Utilities by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Seeds Investor LLC now owns 8,012 shares of the company's stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 641 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in Essential Utilities by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 11,028 shares of the company's stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 617 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Essential Utilities by 55.5% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 14,924 shares of the company's stock valued at $542,000 after purchasing an additional 5,324 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position in Essential Utilities by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 110,723 shares of the company's stock worth $4,021,000 after buying an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in Essential Utilities by 98.9% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,565 shares of the company's stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 778 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on WTRG. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $41.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Essential Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Essential Utilities from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Essential Utilities stock traded down $0.57 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $40.35. 1,127,811 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,470,105. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.18 and a 12-month high of $41.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $38.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.94. The company has a market cap of $11.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.18, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.80.

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

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.3255 per share. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. Essential Utilities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.91%.

Essential Utilities 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.