Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG Shares Purchased by Citigroup Inc.

Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 39.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 99,453 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,329 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $3,968,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Essential Utilities by 351.4% during the third quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 234,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,057,000 after purchasing an additional 182,301 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 25.5% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,972,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $354,057,000 after buying an additional 1,822,306 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 16.4% in the 3rd 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 period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Essential Utilities by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,709,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,091,000 after acquiring an additional 29,904 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI purchased a new position in Essential Utilities during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,088,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of Essential Utilities stock opened at $40.33 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.32 and a 52-week high of $42.37. 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 50 day moving average of $38.89 and a 200 day moving average of $39.03.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $699.11 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $611.60 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 24.91% and a return on equity of 9.18%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.67 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be issued a $0.3426 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $1.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WTRG. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Barclays set a $38.00 target price on shares of Essential Utilities and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Northcoast Research raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 price target 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 issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.20.

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.