Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Has $4.45 Million Holdings in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 219.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 122,581 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 84,208 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $4,452,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Essential Utilities by 28.7% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 60,605 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,338,000 after buying an additional 13,518 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the 4th quarter valued at about $288,000. Capital Market Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 166.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital Market Strategies LLC now owns 14,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $512,000 after purchasing an additional 8,800 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,811,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,134,000 after purchasing an additional 972,803 shares during the period. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities in the 4th quarter valued at about $859,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WTRG. UBS Group dropped their target price on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $44.00 to $41.00 in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Essential Utilities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $43.00 to $39.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essential Utilities presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.00.

Essential Utilities Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE WTRG opened at $35.07 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $9.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.54, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.86. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.71. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 52 week low of $33.18 and a 52 week high of $41.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.55.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced 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 business 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.30 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.3255 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.71%. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is currently 65.00%.

Essential Utilities Company 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.