Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. Invests $50,000 in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 1,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WTRG. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Essential Utilities by 4.5% in the second quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,947 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the period. Tompkins Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 21.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 1,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its position in Essential Utilities by 10.6% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 3,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,000 after buying an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. grew its stake in Essential Utilities by 5.4% during the first quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 6,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $240,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 4.4% during the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 8,024 shares of the company’s stock worth $309,000 after buying an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 1.5 %

Essential Utilities stock traded up $0.57 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $39.67. 1,923,247 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,537,713. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.86 billion, a PE ratio of 19.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 52 week low of $33.28 and a 52 week 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $435.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.95 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.89%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.30 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be given a dividend of $0.3255 per share. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on WTRG. Jefferies Financial Group lowered 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essential Utilities currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.00.

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.