Boston Trust Walden Corp Grows Holdings in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 117.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,962,692 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 1,059,320 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp owned approximately 0.72% of Essential Utilities worth $75,701,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 17,553.7% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,425,350 shares of the company's stock worth $126,156,000 after purchasing an additional 3,405,947 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 0.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,754,099 shares of the company's stock worth $102,811,000 after purchasing an additional 9,822 shares during the last quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 0.7% during the second quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,023,937 shares of the company's stock worth $75,554,000 after purchasing an additional 13,557 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 18.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,500,150 shares of the company's stock worth $56,002,000 after purchasing an additional 234,857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Essential Utilities by 4,309.4% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,255,483 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,424,000 after buying an additional 1,227,010 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

WTRG traded down $0.59 on Friday, reaching $38.84. 1,143,465 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,526,408. The stock has a market cap of $10.62 billion, a PE ratio of 18.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.84. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.95 and a twelve month high of $41.78. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $39.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share 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 return on equity of 8.16% and a net margin of 28.74%. The business's revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.34 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a $0.3255 dividend. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. This is a positive change from Essential Utilities's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Essential Utilities's payout ratio is presently 61.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $44.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $44.80.

Essential Utilities 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.