XTX Topco Ltd Cuts Stock Position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

XTX Topco Ltd decreased its position in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG - Free Report) by 55.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,813 shares of the company's stock after selling 18,434 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd's holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $538,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WTRG. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Essential Utilities by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,061,135 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,091,820,000 after buying an additional 2,245,256 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,811,851 shares of the company's stock valued at $247,134,000 after acquiring an additional 972,803 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in Essential Utilities by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 6,726,215 shares of the company's stock worth $244,296,000 after acquiring an additional 1,597,672 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Essential Utilities by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,317,312 shares of the company's stock valued at $156,526,000 after purchasing an additional 11,336 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,690,116 shares of the company's stock valued at $134,025,000 after purchasing an additional 236,250 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WTRG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Essential Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday. Evercore ISI raised their price objective 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 reduced their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. 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 report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essential Utilities currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

NYSE WTRG traded down $0.57 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $40.35. The stock had a trading volume of 1,127,811 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,470,105. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.18 and a 52-week high of $41.78. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $38.73 and a 200 day moving average of $37.94. 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 stock has a market cap of $11.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.80.

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

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.3255 per share. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. Essential Utilities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.91%.

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.