American Century Companies Inc. Has $442,000 Stock Position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

American Century Companies Inc. reduced its position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 84.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,850 shares of the company's stock after selling 63,023 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.'s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $442,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Essential Utilities by 24.7% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 152,120 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,636,000 after acquiring an additional 30,152 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Essential Utilities by 12.1% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 139,534 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,171,000 after acquiring an additional 15,009 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Essential Utilities by 17,553.7% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,425,350 shares of the company's stock valued at $126,156,000 after acquiring an additional 3,405,947 shares in the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities in the first quarter valued at approximately $46,280,000. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its position in Essential Utilities by 350.3% in the second quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 903,372 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,723,000 after acquiring an additional 702,760 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WTRG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $45.00.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

WTRG stock traded down $0.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $38.25. The company had a trading volume of 2,242,343 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,551,542. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.85. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a one year low of $32.30 and a one year high of $41.78. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $39.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.07.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $434.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $442.76 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 28.74% and a return on equity of 8.16%. Essential Utilities's revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.34 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.95 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.3255 per share. This is a positive change from Essential Utilities's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Essential Utilities's payout ratio is presently 61.61%.

Essential Utilities Company 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.