Amalgamated Bank Buys 633 Shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 120,674 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 633 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $4,383,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WTRG. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 16.7% during the fourth 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 during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities during the third quarter worth approximately $30,842,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in Essential Utilities by 51.3% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,935,818 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,309,000 after acquiring an additional 656,136 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Essential Utilities by 33.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 953,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,795,000 after acquiring an additional 237,096 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 3rd quarter worth $7,301,000. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Stock Up 1.0 %

WTRG stock opened at $37.96 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $10.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.87. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.18 and a fifty-two week high of $41.78. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.55.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its 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 net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.89%. The company had revenue of $604.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $698.77 million. On average, research analysts expect that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be paid a $0.3255 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.43%. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is 65.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on WTRG shares. UBS Group cut their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Essential Utilities from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.33.

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.