Amalgamated Bank Has $4.63 Million Position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Amalgamated Bank decreased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 120,041 shares of the company's stock after selling 21,545 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank's holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $4,630,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WTRG. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Essential Utilities by 4.5% during the second quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,947 shares of the company's stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its holdings in Essential Utilities by 10.6% during the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 3,477 shares of the company's stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the period. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. lifted its stake in Essential Utilities by 5.4% in the first quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 6,491 shares of the company's stock valued at $240,000 after buying an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its stake in Essential Utilities by 4.4% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 8,024 shares of the company's stock valued at $309,000 after buying an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in Essential Utilities by 5.5% in the first quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 6,506 shares of the company's stock valued at $241,000 after buying an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WTRG. Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Essential Utilities from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $44.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $44.00.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

NYSE WTRG traded up $0.57 on Friday, hitting $39.67. 1,923,184 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,537,713. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The business's fifty day moving average is $39.06 and its 200 day moving average is $38.70. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 52 week low of $33.28 and a 52 week high of $41.78. The company has a market capitalization of $10.86 billion, a PE ratio of 19.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.84.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.89%. The firm had revenue of $435.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.95 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be issued a $0.3255 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. Essential Utilities's dividend payout ratio is currently 65.00%.

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.