Principal Securities Inc. Decreases Stake in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Principal Securities Inc. reduced its position in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 52.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,105 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,283 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $76,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 10,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $387,000 after buying an additional 1,398 shares in the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 6,342 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,000 after buying an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 104,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,785,000 after buying an additional 7,929 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 108.2% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 150,332 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,460,000 after buying an additional 78,121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 70,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,546,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essential Utilities Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE WTRG opened at $37.54 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.55. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $35.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.86. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.18 and a fifty-two week high of $41.78. The company has a market cap of $10.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.77, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.87.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $604.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $698.77 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a $0.3255 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is 65.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Essential Utilities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $43.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.00.

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.