Texas Yale Capital Corp. Boosts Stock Position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Texas Yale Capital Corp. raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 76,963 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp.’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $2,795,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of WTRG. Synergy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Essential Utilities by 92.8% in the 4th quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 148,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,529,000 after purchasing an additional 71,222 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased 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 valued at $247,134,000 after acquiring an additional 972,803 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $638,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Essential Utilities by 33.1% in 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, RWC Asset Management LLP purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter valued at $2,119,000. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WTRG. UBS Group decreased 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. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Essential Utilities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WTRG opened at $37.51 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.82. The firm has a market cap of $10.33 billion, a PE ratio of 18.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.80. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a one year low of $33.18 and a one year 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 Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $604.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $698.77 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 27.84%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.3255 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio 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.