Fortem Financial Group LLC Invests $206,000 in Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG)

Fortem Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 5,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its stake in shares of Essential Utilities by 350.3% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 903,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,723,000 after purchasing an additional 702,760 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA grew its position in Essential Utilities by 1.6% during the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 51,881 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,001,000 after buying an additional 803 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in Essential Utilities by 2.5% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 881,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,912,000 after buying an additional 21,804 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Essential Utilities by 18.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,500,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,002,000 after buying an additional 234,857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc bought a new position in Essential Utilities in the second quarter worth approximately $482,000. Institutional investors own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities Price Performance

Shares of Essential Utilities stock opened at $38.62 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.31, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.91. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a 52 week low of $33.57 and a 52 week high of $41.78.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.01. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 27.84%. The company had revenue of $435.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $416.95 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were given a dividend of $0.3255 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. Essential Utilities’s payout ratio is 65.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Essential Utilities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $44.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Essential Utilities in a report on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.00.

About Essential Utilities

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.