Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Shares Purchased by Korea Investment CORP

Korea Investment CORP boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 34.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 87,029 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 22,200 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP's holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $3,161,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WTRG. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Essential Utilities by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,061,135 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,091,820,000 after buying an additional 2,245,256 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,811,851 shares of the company's stock worth $247,134,000 after acquiring an additional 972,803 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,305,976 shares of the company's stock valued at $165,701,000 after acquiring an additional 82,456 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,731,011 shares of the company's stock worth $99,190,000 after acquiring an additional 175,707 shares during the period. Finally, Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 4.2% during the third quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 2,531,297 shares of the company's stock worth $97,632,000 after acquiring an additional 100,990 shares during the period. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Remove Ads

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI boosted 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. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Essential Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $41.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

NYSE:WTRG traded down $1.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $39.62. 3,697,626 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,467,566. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.18 and a 1 year high of $41.78. The company has a market cap of $10.92 billion, a PE ratio of 19.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.55. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $37.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.83.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a $0.3255 dividend. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. Essential Utilities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.91%.

About Essential Utilities

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.