Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG Shares Bought by Aberdeen Group plc

Aberdeen Group plc raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 17.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 185,171 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,087 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $7,244,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Essential Utilities by 351.4% in the third quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 234,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,057,000 after acquiring an additional 182,301 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 25.5% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,972,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $354,057,000 after purchasing an additional 1,822,306 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Essential Utilities by 16.4% in the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 966,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,571,000 after buying an additional 135,899 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.1% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,709,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,091,000 after buying an additional 29,904 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $638,000. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Janney Montgomery Scott cut Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 price target (down from $46.00) on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Robert W. Baird cut Essential Utilities from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Barclays set a $38.00 price target on shares of Essential Utilities and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.29.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WTRG opened at $38.65 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. Essential Utilities Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.96 and a twelve month high of $42.37. The company has a market capitalization of $10.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.04 and a beta of 0.81.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be issued a $0.3426 dividend. This represents a $1.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 12th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is 56.85%.

Essential Utilities Profile

Essential Utilities, Inc, formerly known as Aqua America, is a publicly traded water and natural gas utility holding company. Through its regulated water and wastewater subsidiaries, the company provides essential water services to residential, commercial and industrial customers. In addition, Essential Utilities delivers natural gas distribution services in Pennsylvania through its Peoples Gas subsidiary, offering integrated utility solutions under a unified corporate framework.

The company traces its roots to the Philadelphia Suburban Water Company, founded in 1886 to serve growing communities outside Philadelphia.