MetLife Investment Management LLC Raises Position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 9.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 142,401 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 12,268 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $5,172,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WTRG. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter worth approximately $102,600,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,061,135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,091,820,000 after purchasing an additional 2,245,256 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 6,726,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $244,296,000 after buying an additional 1,597,672 shares in the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at about $52,355,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake 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 worth $247,134,000 after buying an additional 972,803 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WTRG. StockNews.com raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Essential Utilities from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

NYSE:WTRG opened at $40.97 on Thursday. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.18 and a fifty-two week 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $38.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.49, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.80.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 27.84%. The business had revenue of $604.38 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $698.77 million. Equities 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, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.3255 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.91%.

About Essential Utilities

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.