Farther Finance Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 81.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,149 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 515 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $44,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Essential Utilities during the first quarter worth approximately $46,280,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 4,309.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,255,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,424,000 after buying an additional 1,227,010 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 117.3% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,962,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,701,000 after buying an additional 1,059,320 shares in the last quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Essential Utilities in the 1st quarter valued at $26,917,000. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities in the 2nd quarter worth $11,853,000. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 0.7 %

WTRG stock opened at $38.26 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $39.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.78. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $33.57 and a 12 month high of $41.78. The company has a market cap of $10.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.13, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.84.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $435.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $416.95 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 27.84%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.30 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 2.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.3255 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Essential Utilities in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $44.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.00.

Essential Utilities Profile

Essential Utilities, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates regulated utilities that provide water, wastewater, or natural gas services in the United States. The company operates through Regulated Water and Regulated Natural Gas segments. It offers water services through operating and maintenance contract with municipal authorities and other parties.