Wealthfront Advisers LLC Makes New Investment in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,451 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Essential Utilities by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,811,851 shares of the company's stock worth $247,134,000 after purchasing an additional 972,803 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,842,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in Essential Utilities by 51.3% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,935,818 shares of the company's stock worth $70,309,000 after purchasing an additional 656,136 shares in the last quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC raised its stake in Essential Utilities by 42.6% in the 4th quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 2,043,011 shares of the company's stock worth $74,202,000 after purchasing an additional 609,915 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Essential Utilities by 33.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 953,984 shares of the company's stock worth $36,795,000 after purchasing an additional 237,096 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of Essential Utilities stock traded down $0.47 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $38.39. 3,719,878 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,613,343. The stock has a market cap of $10.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.20, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.55. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $36.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.85. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $33.18 and a 12 month high of $41.78.

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Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $604.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $698.77 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.89%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.3255 per share. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. Essential Utilities's payout ratio is 59.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on WTRG shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $41.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.50.

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.