Toth Financial Advisory Corp Has $3.15 Million Position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Toth Financial Advisory Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 18.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 86,756 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,362 shares during the quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $3,151,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 4,309.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,255,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,424,000 after acquiring an additional 1,227,010 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its holdings in Essential Utilities by 117.3% during the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,962,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,701,000 after purchasing an additional 1,059,320 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 972,803 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the third quarter worth $30,842,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 33.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 953,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,795,000 after buying an additional 237,096 shares during the period. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WTRG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Essential Utilities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $43.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $44.00 to $41.00 in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Essential Utilities presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.00.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE WTRG opened at $33.49 on Friday. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.18 and a twelve month high of $41.78. 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 $9.20 billion, a PE ratio of 16.75, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.58.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $435.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.95 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 27.84%. Essential Utilities’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.30 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $0.3255 dividend. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.00%.

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.