Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co Has $2.29 Million Stock Position in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 57,388 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 27,008 shares during the quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $2,290,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WTRG. SouthState Corp boosted its stake in Essential Utilities by 834.7% during the 2nd quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares during the period. American National Bank & Trust bought a new position in Essential Utilities in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 1,163.8% during the third quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 733 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 43.6% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the period. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 141.2% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 1,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 710 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WTRG shares. Barclays set a $38.00 target price on shares of Essential Utilities and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Northcoast Research raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.20.

Essential Utilities Stock Up 0.5%

WTRG opened at $40.33 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.25 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $38.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.03. Essential Utilities Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.32 and a fifty-two week high of $42.37.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.11. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 24.91% and a return on equity of 9.18%. The company had revenue of $699.11 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $611.60 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.67 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.3426 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $1.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.99%.

Essential Utilities Company 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.