Legal & General Group Plc lowered its stake in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 11.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,215,695 shares of the company's stock after selling 412,876 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 1.17% of Essential Utilities worth $116,794,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTRG. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Essential Utilities by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,061,135 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,091,820,000 after purchasing an additional 2,245,256 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,811,851 shares of the company's stock valued at $247,134,000 after buying an additional 972,803 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in Essential Utilities by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 6,726,215 shares of the company's stock worth $244,296,000 after buying an additional 1,597,672 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,317,312 shares of the company's stock worth $156,526,000 after buying an additional 11,336 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Essential Utilities by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,690,116 shares of the company's stock valued at $134,025,000 after acquiring an additional 236,250 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Essential Utilities Price Performance
NYSE WTRG traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $40.17. The company's stock had a trading volume of 732,212 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,483,095. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.18 and a 1 year 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 company has a market capitalization of $11.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.10, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.80. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $38.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.84.
Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $604.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $698.77 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.89%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.3255 dividend. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. Essential Utilities's payout ratio is 59.91%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
WTRG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Essential Utilities from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday. UBS Group cut their price objective on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.50.
Get Our Latest Analysis on Essential Utilities
Essential Utilities Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
Recommended Stories
Before you consider Essential Utilities, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Essential Utilities wasn't on the list.
While Essential Utilities currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Thinking about investing in Meta, Roblox, or Unity? Enter your email to learn what streetwise investors need to know about the metaverse and public markets before making an investment.
Get This Free Report
Like this article? Share it with a colleague.
Link copied to clipboard.
