5,750 Shares in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Acquired by Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC

Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 5,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WTRG. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 24.7% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 152,120 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,636,000 after buying an additional 30,152 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 12.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 139,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,171,000 after purchasing an additional 15,009 shares in the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 1st quarter valued at $46,280,000. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 350.3% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 903,372 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,723,000 after purchasing an additional 702,760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its stake in Essential Utilities by 231.2% during the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 306,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,359,000 after buying an additional 214,031 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

WTRG opened at $38.53 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.57 and a 12-month high of $41.78. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $39.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.58 billion, a PE ratio of 19.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.84.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $435.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.95 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.89%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.30 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 2.01 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be issued a $0.3255 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.38%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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