Bank of New York Mellon Corp Increases Holdings in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 1.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,709,048 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 29,904 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $108,091,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in WTRG. Apella Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 8,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $345,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC raised its position in Essential Utilities by 1.4% during the second quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 18,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $703,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 0.3% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 104,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,157,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its position in Essential Utilities by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 13,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $520,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 17,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $689,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the period. 74.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Barclays set a $38.00 target price on shares of Essential Utilities and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.29.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of WTRG stock opened at $38.83 on Monday. Essential Utilities Inc. has a 12 month low of $34.58 and a 12 month high of $42.37. The firm has a market cap of $10.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.10 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $38.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.89.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.06. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 28.09% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The company had revenue of $476.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $472.40 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be given a dividend of $0.3426 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. This represents a $1.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.85%.

Essential Utilities 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.