Magellan Asset Management Ltd Cuts Position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Magellan Asset Management Ltd reduced its stake in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 15.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 205,156 shares of the company’s stock after selling 36,933 shares during the period. Magellan Asset Management Ltd owned approximately 0.07% of Essential Utilities worth $7,451,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in Essential Utilities by 17.3% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 36,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,396,000 after buying an additional 5,347 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC purchased a new position in Essential Utilities in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in Essential Utilities by 43.3% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 17,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $694,000 after purchasing an additional 5,432 shares during the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities during the third quarter worth $499,000. Finally, Centiva Capital LP acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities in the third quarter valued at $400,000. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WTRG shares. 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 report on Thursday, February 27th. 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 research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of WTRG stock opened at $39.41 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.39. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.18 and a 1-year high of $41.78. The firm has a market cap of $10.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.71, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.79.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $698.77 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.89%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. 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.