Cetera Trust Company N.A Has $230,000 Stock Position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Cetera Trust Company N.A lifted its stake in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 41.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,325 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,860 shares during the period. Cetera Trust Company N.A’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $230,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the third quarter worth $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Essential Utilities in the third quarter worth $26,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Essential Utilities in the third quarter worth $28,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Essential Utilities by 61.4% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 773 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in Essential Utilities in the third quarter worth $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $44.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Essential Utilities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $43.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.00.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE WTRG opened at $34.34 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $9.43 billion, a PE ratio of 17.27, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.86. The business has a fifty day moving average of $37.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.68. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.18 and a 52-week high of $41.78. 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 announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 27.84%. The company had revenue of $435.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.95 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.30 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.3255 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.00%.

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.