Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. Takes $504,000 Position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 13,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $504,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTRG. Nordea Investment Management AB raised 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 worth $247,134,000 after purchasing an additional 972,803 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Essential Utilities in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,842,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Essential Utilities by 33.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 953,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,795,000 after buying an additional 237,096 shares in the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the third quarter worth $7,301,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 6,305.9% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 187,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,291,000 after acquiring an additional 184,258 shares during the period. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of WTRG opened at $37.65 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.34 billion, a PE ratio of 18.83, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.87. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $35.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.86. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $33.18 and a 52 week high of $41.78.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 27.84%. The company had revenue of $604.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $698.77 million. Research analysts expect that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.3255 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is 65.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.33.

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.