Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Buys 29,989 Shares of Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 13.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 245,229 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,989 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $9,407,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GoalVest Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Essential Utilities during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp grew its stake in Essential Utilities by 1,163.8% during the 3rd 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. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its position in Essential Utilities by 31,466.7% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 947 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 944 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on WTRG. Argus raised shares of Essential Utilities to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Northcoast Research raised shares of Essential Utilities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Barclays set a $38.00 target price on Essential Utilities and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.20.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 1.0%

WTRG stock opened at $40.37 on Friday. Essential Utilities Inc. has a one year low of $36.32 and a one year high of $42.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $39.45 and its 200 day moving average is $39.18. The firm has a market cap of $11.44 billion, a PE ratio of 18.27 and a beta of 0.82.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $699.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $611.60 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 9.18% and a net margin of 24.91%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

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

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.