First Horizon Advisors Inc. Acquires 294 Shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 61.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 773 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $30,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 4,309.4% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,255,483 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,424,000 after acquiring an additional 1,227,010 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its stake in Essential Utilities by 117.3% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,962,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,701,000 after purchasing an additional 1,059,320 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new position in Essential Utilities during the 2nd quarter worth about $11,853,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 18.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,500,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,002,000 after purchasing an additional 234,857 shares during the period. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the second quarter valued at about $5,221,000. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WTRG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $44.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.00.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of WTRG opened at $40.12 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $39.05 and a 200-day moving average of $38.86. The company has a market cap of $11.02 billion, a PE ratio of 20.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.84. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a one year low of $33.57 and a one year high of $41.78.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $435.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $416.95 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 27.84%. The business’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 2.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.3255 per share. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is 65.00%.

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.