Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Shares Bought by J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 96.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,262 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 9,941 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $757,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 14.2% during the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 235,841 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,096,000 after buying an additional 29,372 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 94.0% during the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 81,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,808,000 after buying an additional 39,643 shares during the period. Mariner LLC boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 9.9% during the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 34,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,180,000 after buying an additional 3,104 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 0.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,168,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $932,698,000 after buying an additional 99,560 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,583,000. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

NYSE WTRG opened at $35.90 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.82. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.07 and a 1 year high of $44.05. The business’s fifty day moving average is $35.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.62.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.68% and a net margin of 24.26%. The company had revenue of $479.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $708.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 32.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.3071 per share. This is an increase from Essential Utilities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.23 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is 66.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essential Utilities

In other Essential Utilities news, CAO Robert A. Rubin sold 5,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.21, for a total transaction of $207,073.65. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 57,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,149,100.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Evercore ISI cut their target price on Essential Utilities from $51.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.00.

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.