Rodgers Brothers Inc. Buys 18,475 Shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Rodgers Brothers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 34.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 71,913 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,475 shares during the quarter. Rodgers Brothers Inc.’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $2,612,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Essential Utilities by 17.3% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 36,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,396,000 after acquiring an additional 5,347 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $212,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 15,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $606,000 after acquiring an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC purchased a new position in Essential Utilities in the third quarter worth $204,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on WTRG shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. One investment 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 a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WTRG opened at $39.30 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $10.83 billion, a PE ratio of 19.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.79. The company’s 50 day moving average is $37.00 and its 200 day moving average is $37.80. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.18 and a twelve month high of $41.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $698.77 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.89%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.3255 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.