LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC Purchases New Shares in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 7,757 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $281,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,305,976 shares of the company's stock worth $165,701,000 after acquiring an additional 82,456 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Essential Utilities by 39.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 24,359 shares of the company's stock worth $963,000 after purchasing an additional 6,900 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 99.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 54,809 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,114,000 after purchasing an additional 27,291 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 997,399 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,796,000 after purchasing an additional 10,427 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 33.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 953,984 shares of the company's stock worth $36,795,000 after buying an additional 237,096 shares during the period. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WTRG. Evercore ISI lifted 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. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. 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 report on Thursday, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $41.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of WTRG traded up $0.45 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $40.50. The stock had a trading volume of 962,788 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,481,959. The firm has a market cap of $11.16 billion, a PE ratio of 20.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.88. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a one year low of $33.18 and a one year high of $41.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

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 business 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a $0.3255 dividend. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. Essential Utilities's payout ratio is presently 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.