EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC lessened its position in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG – Get Rating) by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,802 shares of the company's stock after selling 460 shares during the period. EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC's holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $364,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prudential PLC increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.7% during the second quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 25,253 shares of the company's stock worth $1,158,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 1,005.6% during the second quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 68,879 shares of the company's stock worth $3,158,000 after purchasing an additional 62,649 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 3.7% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 49,382 shares of the company's stock worth $2,043,000 after purchasing an additional 1,779 shares in the last quarter. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 17.2% during the third quarter. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA now owns 17,880 shares of the company's stock worth $740,000 after purchasing an additional 2,630 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Securian Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 3.7% during the third quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,776 shares of the company's stock worth $901,000 after purchasing an additional 786 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.96% of the company's stock.
Get Essential Utilities alerts:Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research firms have recently commented on WTRG. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Essential Utilities to $44.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 20th. StockNews.com upgraded Essential Utilities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Essential Utilities to $53.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 14th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essential Utilities presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $51.86.
Essential Utilities Trading Down 0.7 %
Shares of Essential Utilities stock traded down $0.32 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $46.74. 220,218 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 822,827. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.50 and a 52-week high of $52.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a fifty day moving average of $47.85 and a 200-day moving average of $47.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 7th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.03. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.84% and a net margin of 22.04%. The business had revenue of $434.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $376.00 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Essential Utilities Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.287 per share. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 9th. Essential Utilities's payout ratio is currently 64.97%.
Insider Transactions at Essential Utilities
In other news, Director Ellen T. Ruff sold 8,560 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.96, for a total transaction of $410,537.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 26,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,577.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.
About Essential Utilities
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Essential Utilities, Inc is a holding company, which engages in providing water, wastewater and natural gas services through its subsidiaries. It operates through the Regulated Water and Regulated Natural Gas segments. The Regulated Water segment includes water and wastewater regulated utility companies.
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