Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Has $1.40 Million Stake in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 38,652 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 356 shares during the quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $1,404,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position 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 buying an additional 972,803 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Essential Utilities in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,842,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in Essential Utilities by 51.3% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,935,818 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,309,000 after acquiring an additional 656,136 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 237,096 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $7,301,000. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

NYSE WTRG opened at $39.81 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $35.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.80. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.18 and a 1 year high of $41.78.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $698.77 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a $0.3255 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.27%. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is 59.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Essential Utilities from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.50.

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.