Paloma Partners Management Co Takes Position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 12,949 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $499,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the third quarter worth about $451,000. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 53.6% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 237,320 shares of the company's stock worth $9,153,000 after buying an additional 82,795 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 43.3% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 17,981 shares of the company's stock worth $694,000 after buying an additional 5,432 shares during the last quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the third quarter worth about $478,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 7.3% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,154,215 shares of the company's stock worth $83,088,000 after buying an additional 145,767 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WTRG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Essential Utilities from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $44.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $44.00.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

WTRG traded down $0.51 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $39.16. The stock had a trading volume of 1,171,487 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,522,500. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.89. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $33.57 and a 12 month high of $41.78. The firm has a market cap of $10.75 billion, a PE ratio of 19.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.85.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $435.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $416.95 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.89%. The company's revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 2.01 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th were issued a dividend of $0.3255 per share. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. Essential Utilities's payout ratio is 65.00%.

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.