Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC Grows Stake in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 21.9% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 11,054 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,983 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $411,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Essential Utilities by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,734,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $175,313,000 after purchasing an additional 173,319 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Essential Utilities by 0.3% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,679,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,503,000 after buying an additional 7,137 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its position in Essential Utilities by 2.7% during the second quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 2,544,883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,517,000 after acquiring an additional 68,072 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in Essential Utilities by 3.9% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,438,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,405,000 after acquiring an additional 92,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maple Brown Abbott Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities in the first quarter valued at $94,251,000. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Essential Utilities from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Baird R W downgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Zacks Research raised Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Janney Montgomery Scott lowered Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Essential Utilities from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.57.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Essential Utilities stock opened at $38.28 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.73. The company has a market capitalization of $10.83 billion, a PE ratio of 16.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $39.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.65. Essential Utilities Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.18 and a fifty-two week high of $42.37.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $476.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $472.40 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 27.62%.Essential Utilities’s revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.3426 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.85%.

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.