Red Door Wealth Management LLC Purchases Shares of 13,523 Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Red Door Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 13,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $491,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WTRG. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 14,243 shares of the company’s stock valued at $549,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew 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 acquiring an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp increased its stake in Essential Utilities by 21.7% during the third quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 1,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Essential Utilities by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,946 shares of the company’s stock valued at $180,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the period. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted 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 worth $134,000 after buying an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

WTRG opened at $33.56 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.64. The company has a market capitalization of $9.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.78, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.86. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.18 and a 12-month high of $41.78.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.89%. The company had revenue of $435.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $416.95 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.30 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.3255 dividend. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WTRG shares. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $44.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Essential Utilities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $43.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.