Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Makes New $3.57 Million Investment in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 92,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,566,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WTRG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 587.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,071,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $162,472,000 after purchasing an additional 3,479,762 shares during the last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities during the 3rd quarter worth about $128,137,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 25.5% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,972,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $354,057,000 after purchasing an additional 1,822,306 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 1,572.4% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,271,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,212,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195,189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 121.8% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,591,706 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,697,000 after purchasing an additional 873,990 shares during the last quarter. 74.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essential Utilities Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of WTRG stock opened at $37.69 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $10.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.13 and a beta of 0.67. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 1-year low of $36.32 and a 1-year high of $42.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.31.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.07). Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.37% and a net margin of 21.82%.The company had revenue of $861.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $782.90 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.25 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be issued a $0.3426 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $1.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WTRG. Argus upgraded shares of Essential Utilities to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. UBS Group set a $41.00 price objective on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Utilities presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.40.

Essential Utilities Company Profile

Essential Utilities, Inc, formerly known as Aqua America, is a publicly traded water and natural gas utility holding company. Through its regulated water and wastewater subsidiaries, the company provides essential water services to residential, commercial and industrial customers. In addition, Essential Utilities delivers natural gas distribution services in Pennsylvania through its Peoples Gas subsidiary, offering integrated utility solutions under a unified corporate framework.

The company traces its roots to the Philadelphia Suburban Water Company, founded in 1886 to serve growing communities outside Philadelphia.